BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

<> 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


THRILLING 
EXPERIENCES 


BY 

nh 

SOLOMON  -P.  KIMBALL 


SALT  LAKE  CITY 

MAGAZINE  PRINTING  CO. 

1909 


F  %  X  6 
K  iH 


COPYRIGHT  APPLIED  FOR 


CONTENTS 


Two  Mighty  Influences    ...  7 

A  Close  Call          .  J7 

Reaping  Wild  Oats    ....  25 

Plucked  From  The  Burning         .  35 

A  Mysterious  Voice            ...  47 

A  Priceless  Reward       ...  54 
Remarkable  Manifestations        .        .61 

Rocky  Mountain  Duskies      .        .  68 

Our  Pioneer  Boys       ....  82 

A  Hazardous  Journey                      •  99 

Antelope  Island           .        .        .        .  H4 

Bear  Lake  Yarns   .  J37 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


BY  THE  WAY 

Some  of  the  articles  in  this  little  volume 
which  appeared  in  the  Improvement  Era, 
were  so  well  received  by  the  Saints,  that  a 
number  of  my  friends  not  only  urged  me  to 
publish  them  in  book  form,  but  have  ad- 
vanced the  means  for  that  purpose,  as  a 
proof  of  their  sincerity.  These  articles  are 
not  only  of  a  thrilling  nature,  but  are  so 
filled  with  the  testimonies  of  "Mormonism," 
that  one  of  them  has  already  appeared  in 
several  different  languages. 

April,  1909. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


THRILLING  EXPERIENCES 


TWO  MIGHTY  INFLUENCES 

[Some  months  ago,  the  author  contributed  several 
striking  papers  for  the  Improvement  Era,  on  his  per- 
sonal experiences.  A  number  of  people  have  asked 
him  to  explain  -how  he  was  led  to  write  these  papers, 
and  he  answers  their  questions  in  this  article,  showing 
that  the  inspiration  which  led  thereto  was  as  remark- 
able as  any  that  directed  his  former  acts. — Editors.] 

Many  times  during  our  lives,  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  discern  between  good  and  evil 
influences.  If  we  always  listened  to  the 
promptings  of  the  right  influence,  what 
a  world  of  sorrow  and  trouble  it  would 
save  us !  Evil  is  always  present,  and  when 
we  fail  to  listen  to  the  good  spirit,  it  gives 
the  evil  one  advantage  over  us.  That  spirit 
causes  everything  to  appear  so  easy  and 
plausible  that  we  sometimes  get  the  two  in- 
fluences confused,  and  the  one  that  has  the 
strongest  hold  upon  us  is  the  one  we  nat- 
urally follow. 

I  quote  the  following  from  the  Pearl  of 
Great  Price,  pages  32  and  33:  "And  the 
Lord  spake  unto  Adam,  saying,  Inasmuch 


Thrilling  Experiences 

as  thy  children  are  conceived  in  sin,  even  so 
when  they  begin  to  grow  up,  sin  conceiveth 
in  their  hearts,  and  they  taste  the  bitter,  that 
they  may  know  how  to  prize  the  good.  And 
it  is  given  unto  them  to  know  good  from 
evil;  wherefore,  they  are  agents  unto  them- 
selves." The  Prophet  Joseph,  in  speaking 
upon  this  subject,  tells  us  that  we  must  "try 
the  spirits,  and  prove  them,  for  it  is  often 
the  case  that  men  make  mistakes  in  regard 
to  these  things."  There  is  but  one  way  to 
avoid  evil  influences.  Live  pure,  holy,  and 
prayerful  lives ;  cultivate  a  spirit  of  discern- 
ment, and  shun  everything  of  an  evil  nature. 
Or,  in  other  words,  "Resist  the  devil,  and  he 
will  flee  from  us."  Many  times  I  have  been 
brought  near  to  death's  door  by  listening 
to  the  wrong  spirit. 

The  most  difficult  time  that  I  ever  had  to 
discern  between  the  two  influences,  was  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  March,  1906.  I  had  lost 
my  position,  and  was  enjoying  a  long-needed 
rest,  and  had  no  work  in  view.  One  even- 
ing, the  spirit  whispered  these  words  to  me : 
"Now  is  the  time  to  write  some  of  the  most 
important  events  of  your  life,  and  have  them 
published."  My  feelings  naturally  revolted 
against  it,  and  the  thoughts  of  such  a  thing 
made  me  shudder.  I  understood  to  which 
part  of  my  life  the  spirit  had  reference 


Two  Mighty  Influences 

The  same  influence,  twenty-two  years  be- 
fore, had  worked  with  me  until  I  spent  sev- 
eral days  in  writing  that  part  of  my  his- 
tory. I  said  to  myself:  No,  never  as  long- 
as  I  have  my  natural  senses.  I  had  lived  a 
good  life  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  did 
not  propose  to  tear  down  the  good  name  I 
had  worked  so  hard  to  build  up.  Both  in- 
fluences were  working  with  me,  and  I  was 
in  sympathy  with  the  one  that  was  fighting 
that  proposition.  I  had  never  but  once  writ- 
ten for  publication,  and  then  had  help.  My 
ambition  did  not  run  in  that  direction.  I 
thought  to  myself,  how  foolish  it  would  be 
for  me  to  delve  into  the  disagreeable  parts 
of  my  life,  and  place  them  before  the  pub- 
lic, after  I  had  outlived  them  !  This  spirit 
said  to  me,  "Never  will  such  a  thing  be  re- 
quired of  you,  and  nothing  but  an  evil  in- 
fluence would  prompt  you  to  make  such  a 
fool  of  yourself.  The  Lord  has  forgiven  you 
of  your  sins,  and  they  are  blotted  out  of  the 
book  of  remembrance."  This  feeling  grew 
stronger  from  day  to  day,  and  had  convinced 
me  that  all  I  had  to  do  was  to  live  a  cor- 
rect life,  and  let  my  past  mistakes  take  care 
of  themselves. 

One  evening  I  picked  up  a  newspaper, 
and  was  horrified  to  find  that  I  could  not 
read  a  word.  My  eyes  continued  in  this 


Thfillmg  Experiences 

condition  for  several  days,  and  finally  be- 
came almost  blind.  The  two  spirits  con- 
tinued to  bear  down  upon  me  a  little  harder, 
and  finally  I  went  to  bed  a  sick  man.  While 
this  warfare  was  going  on  in  my  mind,  a 
large  carbuncle  developed  on  one  of  my  low- 
er limbs.  It  seemed  to  penetrate  to  the 
bone,  and  the  flesh  around  it  turned  black. 
It  was  so  painful  I  could  hardly  endure  it. 
As  I  lay  on  my  back  in  this  pitiable  con- 
dition, I  had  an  open  vision  in  broad  day- 
light. It  was  no  more  nor  less  than  my 
own  hand  writing  passing  before  me  from 
right  to  left  about  as  fast  I  would  naturally 
write.  The  scene  lasted  fifteen  or  twenty 
minutes,  and  was  so  plain  I  could  see  to  read 
some  of  the  writing.  After  the  vision  had 
passed,  the  spirit  said,  in  language  that 
could  not  be  misunderstood,  that  if  I  re- 
fused to  obey  its  promptings  any  longer,  I 
would  never  get  out  of  that  bed  alive.  My 
afflicted  limb  was  in  a  fearful  condition,  and 
I  feared  that  blood  poison  had  already  set 
in.  All  was  made  plain  to  me  then,  and  I 
made  up  my  mind  to  obey  the  instructions 
received,  no  matter  how  much  it  went 
against  my  natural  feelings.  If  I  could  do 
good  in  my  humble  way,  I  was  willing  to 
make  the  sacrifice.  I  crawled  out  of  bed 
and  dressed  myself.  I  went  into  the  closet, 

10 


Two  Mighty  Influences 

and  locked  the  door,  and  bowed  down  in 
humble  prayer  before  the  Lord.  I  laid  bare 
my  feelings  before  him.  I  confessed  my  sins 
with  tears  streaming  down  my  cheeks.  In 
broken  accents  I  pleaded  with  Him  to  be 
merciful  unto  me,  and  bless  me  in  body, 
mind,  and  spirit.  I  asked  him  to  strengthen 
my  memory  so  that  I  would  be  able  to  re- 
member what  he  desired  me  to  write.  I 
pleaded  with  him  to  give  me  back  rriy 
eyesight,  to  remove  the  pain  from  my  afflict- 
ed limb,  and  to  give  me  strength  to  stand 
up  under  the  trying  ordeal  that  lay  before 
me.  I  soon  felt  the  spirit  resting  upon  me 
in  great  power.  My  eyesight  was  restored, 
and  all  disagreeable  feelings  vanished.  The 
pain  left,  and  I  was  healed,  all  but  my  af- 
flicted limb. 

Before  I  had  gotten  off  my  knees,  the 
spirit  told  me  that  what  I  would  write  would 
not  only  be  a  help  to  others,  but  would 
prove  a  blessing  to  me.  I  went  to  my  desk 
with  a  light  heart  and  a  cheerful  counte- 
nance. The  blood  commenced  to  warm  up 
in  my  veins.  A  cloud  of  darkness  was  lifted 
from  my  mind.  What  had  appeared  to  me 
a  horrible  nightmare  was  changed  into  a 
sacred  remembrance.  I  took  a  pencil  and 
tab,  and  commenced  to  write.  The  subject 
given  me  was  the  incidents  of  my  life  that 

11 


Thrilling  Experiences 

had  taken  place  forty-three  years  before. 
They  were  brought  so  vividly  before  my 
mind  that  it  seemed  but  yesterday.  When 
I  had  completed  it,  I  commenced  to  write, 
"Plucked  from  the  Burning."  When  I 
started  to  write  this  sketch,  it  was  nothing 
short  of  marvelous  the  way  this  part  of 
my  life  was  brought  before  me,  and  how 
keen  my  memory  was  on  all  the  little  details 
connected  with  it.  Many  things  were 
brought  to  my  remembrance  which  before  I 
had  entirely  forgotten.  I  could  actually  see 
in  my  mind  the  horrible  countenances  of 
those  imps  of  the  infernal  regions,  as  they 
appeared  to  me  on  the  desert,  that  Septem- 
ber morning,  twenty-five  years  before.  For 
the  first  time  I  could  appreciate  this  per- 
iod of  my  life,  and  look  upon  the  event  as 
the  most  sacred  part  of  it.  Peculiar  feelings 
engaged  my  mind,  while  it  was  passing  be- 
fore me  like  a  panoramic  view.  Several 
times  I  had  to  pause  long  enough  to  wipe 
away  the  tears  that  were  drenching  the  pa- 
per I  was  writing  on.  Never  until  then  could 
I  understand  the  importance  of  this  period 
of  my  life,  and  I  felt  to  exclaim,  "Merciful 
God,  hallowed  be  Thy  name  forever.  Thou 
didst,  when  I  had  started  to  cross  the  'Rubi- 
con' of  destruction,  condescend  to  point  the 
way  to  glory,  celestial  worlds  without  end." 


Two  Mighty  Influences 

This  was  the  turning  point  of  my  life,  and 
I  could  then  understand  why  my  Heavenly 
Father  desired  that  these  incidents  should 
be  made  public.  There  were  too  many  ser- 
ious lessons  connected  with  them,  and  they 
were  too  important  to  be  brushed  aside  as 
so  much  trash.  They  were  to  be  left  on 
record  as  a  standing  reproof  to  every  way- 
ward son  and  daughter  of  Zion  who  might 
read  them. 

I  wrote  the  entire  article  in  less  than 
three  hours,  and  never  rose  from  my  seat 
until  it  was  finished.  At  times,  it  seemed 
like  the  spirit  would  burn  me  up.  The  title 
to  the  fourth  article  was,  "Reaping  Wild 
Oats."  Afterwards  it  was  changed  to  "Ad- 
ventures on  the  Way  to  Arizona."  After 
it  had  been  published,  the  spirit  chided  me 
for  making  the  change,  as  it  conveyed  the 
wrong  impression.  There  was  a  severe  les- 
son in  this  part  of  my  life  also  that  the  way- 
ward of  Zion  would  do  well  to  heed.  For 
nine  years,  I  had  turned  my  back  upon  my 
religion,  and  was  running  after  the  glitter  of 
the  world.  I  had  been  brought  up  under  the 
droppings  of  the  sanctuary,  as  it  were,  and 
knew  I  was  doing  wrong.  Hundreds  of 
times  the  good  spirit  had  labored  with  me, 
and  used  all  influences  imaginable  to  get  me 
to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  my  father;  but 

13 


Thrilling  Experiences 

no,  nothing  would  do  but  have  a  "good 
time."  Time  and  again,  when  my  intentions 
were  to  do  wrong,  the  good  spirit  blocked 
the  way,  and  put  me  right,  but  I  did  not  ap- 
preciate it.  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  gradu- 
ally left  me,  and  I  was  deserted  by  all  good 
influences,  except  my  faithful  guardian  an- 
gels who  remained  with  me  to  the  end.  I 
was  finally  given  over  to  some  strange  and 
powerful  influence  that  I  could  not  resist.  It 
led  me  hither  and  thither,  and  finally  landed 
me  in  the  roughest  and  toughest  part  of 
Arizona  without  money  and  without 
friends.  My  mission  there,  under  this  in- 
fluence, was  to  reap  the  wild  oats  I  had  so 
bountifully  sown  during  the  nine  years  pre- 
vious to  this  time.  I  remained  a  prisoner 
under  this  influence  for  another  nine  years, 
and  was  not  allowed  to  return  home  until 
I  had  paid  the  uttermost  farthing  for  every 
evil  act  of  my  life.  In  this  instance  it 
seemed  that  my  sins  had  been  "open  before- 
hand, and  had  gone  before  to  judgment,"  on 
conditions  that  I  continued  to  do  right. 

When  I  had  completed  my  fourth  article, 
my  afflicted  limb  had  so  far  recovered  that 
I  was  able  to  hobble  down  to  the  Improve- 
ment Era  office,  where  the  spirit  had  di- 
rected me.  The  associate  editor  was  a 
stranger  to  me.  I  presented  to  him  my  first 

14 


Two  Mighty  Influences 

and  third  articles  to  be  passed  upon.  He 
read  them  through,  and  put  his  seal  of  ap- 
proval on  them,  which  was  a  great  relief.  It 
was  a  new  experience,  and  a  valuable  one, 
and  shows  how  the  Lord  can  make  us  pub- 
lish our  own  sins  upon  the  housetops. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  to  show 
how  the  Lord  can  operate  upon  us  in  ways 
that  we  little  think  of,  I  will  conclude  with 
the  following  incident :  One  night  while 
thinking  of  employing  one  of  our  local  poets 
to  write  introductory  verses  for  each  of  my 
articles,  imagine  my  surprise  when  suddenly 
two  verses  were  presented  to  me.  Having 
never  written  a  line  of  poetry  in  my  life,  I 
immediately  jumped  out  of  bed  for  pencil 
and  paper.  The  next  day  a  poetical  influence 
took  possession  of  me,  and  more  lines  were 
presented,  on  another  subject.  I  was  curious 
to  know  what  was  coming  next,  and  that  ev- 
ening several  more  little  poems  were  written. 
As  dense  as  my  mind  was  on  the  subject  of 
poetry,  I  soon  discovered  that  the  poems 
were  introductions  to  my  articles. 
Several  days  after  this  I  wrote  the  verses  on 
temple  work,  and  the  next  evening  the  intro- 
ductory poem  to  the  article,  "A  Priceless 
Reward/'  I  went  to  bed  with  a  satisfied 
feeling,  for  I  now  had  introductory  verses  for 
all  of  my  articles. 

15 


Thrilling  Experiences 

That  night  while  I  lay  wondering,  from 
whence  came  this  poetical  inspiration,  there 
passed  before  me  the  history  of  our  pioneer 
boys,  from  the  time  they  first  entered  these 
valleys  in  1847,  to  the  days  of  the  Union  Pa- 
cific railroad  in  1868.  I  witnessed  the  terrible 
hardships  that  they  passed  through  for  the 
cause  of  Zion,  and  late  that  night  the  poem, 
"Our  Pioneer  Boys,"  was  given  to  me. 


16 


A  CLOSE  CALL 

They  were  driven  to  the  mountains, 

The  Saints  of  the  Most  High; 
Where  they  suffered  many  hardships, 

All  had  to  toil  or  die. 
The  heavens  wept  above  them, 

Jehovah  heard  their  prayers; 
Satan  frowned  with  anger, 

While  faith  beguiled  their  cares. 

It  is  difficult  for  some  of  the  younger 
members  of  our  Church  to  understand  what 
the  Saints  have  had  to  pass  through  since 
first  they  began  to  settle  in  these  valleys. 
In  early  days  all  had  to  work  who  were  able. 
We  had  no  railroads,  then,  to  bring  train- 
loads  of  coal  right  to  our  doors,  but  were 
compelled  to  burn  wood.  It  took  a  strong 
man  two  days  to  go  to  the  canyon  and  get 
a  load  of  wood.  Then  it  took  him  two  days 
more  to  chop  it  into  firewood.  This 
would  last  a  ,  small  family  probably 
three  weeks  or  a  month.  It  was 
nothing  unusual  to  see  a  boy  twelve  or 
thirteen  years  of  age  driving  a  team  to  the 
canyon,  in  company  with  his  father  or  broth- 
er, who  also  had  teams  to  look  after.  Like 


Thrilling  Experiences 

conditions  prevailed  in  the  different  avoca- 
tions of  life. 

About  the  last  of  May,  1864,  our  father, 
Heber  C.  Kimball,  purchased  quite  a  valua- 
ble work  horse  from  the  Knowlton  family, 
paying  them  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
cash  down.  That  evening  he  instructed  Da- 
vid H.  and  myself,  to  hitch  up  our  teams  the 
next  morning,  and  go  to  North  Mill  Creek 
canyon,  east  of  Bountiful,  after  wood.  He 
entrusted  the  new  horse  to  the  care  of  Da- 
vid, who  was  but  fourteen  years  of  age,  I 
being  three  years  older.  Every  morning 
father  had  family  prayers,  and  he  never  al- 
lowed us  boys  to  go  to  work  until  after 
this  was  attended  to.  He  not  only  prayed 
for  us,  but  for  the  horses,  and  wagons,  and 
even  the  harness.  The  next  morning,  Da- 
vid and  I,  hitched  up  our  teams  bright  and 
early,  and  drove  them  out  of  the  yard  very 
quietly,  so  as  not  to  wake  our  father.  We 
well  knew  that  we  were  disobeying  orders, 
and  that  if  he  should  happen  to  hear  us  driv- 
ing out,  he  would  call  us  back,  and  have  us 
put  our  horses  back  into  the  stable  and  re- 
main until  after  prayers.  This  was  not  our 
first  offense,  and  we  were  quite  successful 
that  morning  in  getting  away.  Nothing  un- 
usual happened  until  after  we  had  reached 
the  head  of  the  canyon,  which  is  about  sev- 

18 


A  Close  Call 

enteen  miles  from  Salt  Lake  City.  We  load- 
ed our  wagons  with  wood,  which  had  al- 
ready been  gotten  out  for  us,  and  started  for 
home,  myself  being  in  the  lead.  We  had 
not  gone  far,  before  the  Knowlton  horse  be- 
gan to  jump  about  so  frantically,  that  my 
brother  could  not  manage  him.  I  stopped 
my  team  and  ran  back  to  where  he  was,  and 
finally  got  the  horse  quieted  down.  I  then 
told  David,  that  he  had  better  drive  my  team, 
and  that  I  would  take  charge  of  his.  We 
then  drove  on  until  we  came  to  a  very  steep 
and  narrow  dugway,  which  was  quite  sid- 
ling in  places.  This  was  the  most  dangerous 
piece  of  road  in  the  canyon.  Not  long  be- 
fore this,  Father  Kinney's  son  met  with  a 
terrible  death  in  this  same  place.  .The  wa- 
gon that  he  was  driving  tipped  over  into  the 
creek,  and  fell  on  him.  In  those  days  we 
had  no  brakes  on  our  wagons,  and  when  we 
came  to  a  hill  that  was  too  steep  for  the 
horses  to  hold  the  loaded  wagon  back,  we 
locked  one  of  the  hind  wheels,  and  drove 
down  in  that  way. 

When  David  reached  the  top  of  this  hill, 
he  stopped  his  team,  as  usual,  locked  the 
wheel,  and  then  drove  on  down.  I  then 
drove  my  team  to  the  brink  of  the 
hill,  but  before  I  could  get  it  stopped, 
the  Knowlton  horse  began  to  pitch 

19 


Thrilling  Experiences 

and  lunge  ahead  so  furiously,  that  it 
was  impossible  for  me  to  stop  him. 
I  realized  the  awful  position  that  I  was  in. 
Like  a  flash  of  lightning,  the  death  of 
Father  Kinney's  son  came  before  my  mind. 
David,  by  this  time,  was  about  fifty  yards 
on  head  of  me.  I  yelled  to  him,  at  the  top 
of  my  voice,  telling  him  to  whip  up,  and  get 
out  of  my  way  as  quickly  as  possible.  I  had 
dropped  one  of  the  lines,  and  could  do 
nothing  but  hold  on  to  the  load  of  wood  as 
best  I  could.  I  was  satisfied  that  if  my 
team  ran  into  his  wagon,  in  such  a  narrow 
and  sidling  place,  that  it  would  not  only 
knock  his  outfit  off  into  the  raging  torrent 
below,  but  that  we  would  all  go  down  to- 
gether. The  dugway  next  to  the  creek  was 
probably  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  high,  and 
almost  perpendicular.  The  stream  below 
was  quite  high,  and  the  bottom  of  it  was 
strewn  with  huge  boulders.  The  water  rush- 
ing and  beating  against  them  on  its  down- 
ward course,  made  it  appear  as  white  as 
snow.  This  also  made  such  a  roaring, 
that  we  could  hardly  hear.  David  looked 
back  and  saw  my  team;  coming  at  full  speed. 
For  the  first  time  he  sensed  the  danger  we 
were  in,  and  immediately  began  to  put  the 
whip  to  his  horses,  letting  them  go  as  fast 
as  they  could.  By  so  doing  he  took  his  life 

20 


A  Close  Call 

in  his  own  hands  in  order  to  try  and  save 
me,  as  well  as  himself.  My  binding  chain 
began  to  loosen,  and  my  wood  commenced 
to  bound  about.  Something  had  to  be  done 
immediately,  as  it  was  impossible  to  hold  on 
much  longer.  At  the  foot  of  this  dugway 
was  a  narrow  and  dangerous  pole-bridge, 
that  crossed  this  treacherous  stream.  On 
crossing  this  bridge  with  loaded  wagons,  un- 
der ordinary  circumstances,  we  had  our 
teams  walk  across  it  as  slowly  as  possible. 
In  a  miraculous  manner,  David  had  man- 
aged to  get  his  team  across  safely,  and  had 
reached  a  little  flat  on  the  other  side,  and 
was  out  of  danger  a  few  seconds  before  I 
overtook  him.  But  what  was  to  become  of 
me?  I  still  held  the  right-hand  line  in  my 
hands.  As  my  team  was  headed,  my  left 
wheels  would  miss  the  bridge,  on  the  upper 
side,  at  least  three  feet.  There  was  just  one 
chance  left  for  me.  If  I  could  steer  my 
horses  a  little  to  the  right,  and  strike  the 
bridge  squarely,  I  believed  that  I  would  be 
able  to  cross  it.  If  I  should  happen  to  miss 
it,  even  one-eighth  of  an  inch,  it  meant  cer- 
tain destruction  for  myself  and  team.  This 
was  the  danger  spot  of  the  whole  canyon. 
I  made  a  superhuman  effort.  I  pulled  on 
the  line  as  hard  as  I  could  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, and  managed  to  get  my  team 

21 


Thrilling  Experiences 

turned  a  little  to  the  right,  and  came  within 
a  few  inches  of  running  off  the  bridge,  on 
the  upper  side,  but  went  across  all 
right.  By  this  time  I  had  com- 
pletely lost  my  balance,  and  was  just  fall- 
ing onto  the  heels  of  this  crazy  horse,  when 
my  team  crashed  into  my  brother  David's 
wagon  with  such  tremendous  force,  that  it 
drove  a  pole  almost  through  the  body  of 
the  Knowlton  horse,  killing  him  almost  in- 
stantly. 

So  far  we  had  not  seen  a  human  being  in 
the  canyon,  and  the  lonely  and  dismal  feel- 
ing that  took  possession  of  us  nearly  drove 
us  wild.  We  began,  to  realize  the  terrible 
danger  that  we  had  just  passed  through, 
and  our  faces  were  as  white  as  chalk,  while 
our  hearts  were  beating  sledgehammer 
blows.  We  were  speechless,  as  well  as 
powerless,  and  it  took  us  some  time  before 
we  could  collect  our  thoughts.  The  first 
words  that  were  spoken  were  by  David, 
who  said  that  he  would  never  run  away 
from  prayers  again,  as  long  as  he  lived.  I 
felt  a  little  more  that  way  than  he  did,  but 
said  nothing.  I  offered  up  a  silent  prayer, 
thanking  God,  my  HeJavenly  Father,  for 
saving  our  lives  in  such  a  miraculous  man- 
ner. 

The  next  thing  we  did,  was  to  get  the 

22 


A  Close  Call 

wagon  and  dead  horse  out  of  the  road.  We 
then  tied  faithful  old  "Nig"  horse  behind  our 
wagon  and  drove  homeward.  We  arrived 
at  the  warm  springs  about  7  p.  m.,  being  two 
hours  late.  We  there  met  our  mothers, 
Sarah  Ann  and  Vilate.  My  mother  had  had 
a  terrible  presentiment  of  what  had  hap- 
pened, just  at  the  very  time  that  we  were 
passing  through  this  terrible  ordeal,  and 
had  been  almost  frantic  up  to  this  time. 
They  never  expected  to  see  either  of  us 
home  alive.  We  finally  got  them  pacified, 
and  drove  on  home.  It  seemed  that  our 
father,  also,  had  been  forewarned  of  our 
trouble.  When  we  met  him  at  the  gate,  his 
face  was  flushed,  and  he  was  unable  to 
speak  a  word,  while  big  tears  were  running 
down  his  cheeks.  The  next  morning  we 
were  called  into  the  prayer  room  with  the 
rest  of  the  family.  Before  prayers  he  made 
a  few  remarks,  as  he  usually  did.  Among 
the  things  he  said  were  these  words,  that 
Satan  had  laid  his  plans  to  destroy  us  two 
boys,  and  that  the  death  of  that  hor^e  saved 
my  life.  Nothing  but  the  power  of  God,  he 
said,  could  have  saved  us,  as  that  horse  was 
possessed  with  an  evil  spirit.  He  thought 
that  if  we  had  obeyed  his  counsel  and  re- 
mained at  home  until  after  prayers,  that 
Satan  would  not  have  had  the  power  to  en- 


Thrilling  Experiences 

danger  our  lives.  He  hoped  that  it  would 
be  a  lesson  that  we  would  always  remem- 
ber. Then  we  all  kneeled  down,  and  before 
he  had  prayed  many  minutes,  we  could  be- 
gin to  feel  the  blood  tingling  in  our  veins ; 
the  Spirit  of  God  rested  down  upon  us  in 
mighty  power.  Before  he  was  through, 
there  was  not  a  person  in  the  room  who  was 
not  weeping.  I  had  never  heard  such  a 
prayer  before,  and  what  I  heard  on  that  oc- 
casion will  remain  with  me  as  long  as  I  live. 


REAPING  WILD  OATS 

Oh  ye  wayward  ones  of  Zion, 

Who   have   trod   forbidden   ground; 
Give  heed  to  timely  warning, 

Hearken  to  the  gospel  sound. 
Repent  of  sins  and  follies, 

Walk  in  the  narrow  path; 
That  leads  to  life  eternal, 

Beyond  satanie  wrath. 

After  spending  the  greater  portion  of 
nine  years  in  seeking  for  the  things  of  this 
world,  I  started  for  Arizona  on  the  4th  day 
of  July,  1877.  The  very  thoughts  of  this  trip 
almost  broke  my  heart.  It  seemed  like  some 
powerful  influence  that  I  cannot  describe 
took  possession  of  me,  saying,  go,  and  I  must 
obey.  If  I  had  been  sentenced  to  years  of 
imprisonment,  I  could  not  have  felt  worse. 
President  Young  had  heard  that  my  brother, 
David  Patton  and  family,  and  myself,  were 
getting  ready  to  go,  so  he  had  us  called  to 
go  as  missionaries.  We  had  been  told  that 
cattle  were  bringing  fabulous  prices  there, 
and  for  this  reason  we  decided  to  start  with 
ox  teams.  Edward  E.  Jones  and  family  ac- 
companied us.  We  reached  St.  George  about 
the  middle  of  August,  and  it  seemed  like  Old 

25  C 


Thrilling  Experiences 

Nick  had  been  firing  up  for  the  occasion.  We 
had  learned  by  this  time  that  we  had  made 
the  mistake  of  our  lives  in  starting  with  cat- 
tle, but  it  was  now  too  late  to  back  out. 
The  roads  for  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles 
ahead  of  us  were  fearful,  and  water  and  feed 
were  scarce.  However,  we  worried  along 
until  we  reached  Pierce's  Ferry,  on  the  Colo- 
rado river.  We  were  compelled  to  remain 
here  a  few  days,  in  order  to  rest  our  ani- 
mals. While  here,  an  Indian  who  had  been 
sent  from  St.  George  by  Brother  David  H. 
Cannon,  brought  us  the  Deseret  News  con- 
taining an  account  of  President  Young's 
death.  This  sad  news,  in  connection  with 
the  troublesome  times  that  we  were  pass- 
ing through,  multiplied  our  sorrows.  It  was 
a  great  shock  to  us,  and  we  could  not  have 
felt  worse  had  it  been  our  own  father.  We 
had  met  President  Young  at  Nephi,  on  our 
way  down,  and  he  blessed  us  before  leav- 
ing that  place.  We  continued  our  journey 
to  Cane  Springs,  about  forty  miles  south  of 
the  Ferry.  By  this  time  our  animals  were 
so  worn  out,  and  footsore,  that  we  were  com- 
pelled to  remain  about  a  month.  Before 
we  had  been  there  two  hours,  one  of  my  best 
oxen,  that  had  gotten  into  a  mudhole,  was 
killed  by  the  wolves  within  one  hundred 
yards  of  our  cam>p.  After  our  animals  had 

26 


Reaping  Wild  Oats 

sufficiently  recovered  from  their  hard 
journey,  we  made  another  start  across  a  sev- 
enty-mile desert.  We  traveled  three  days 
and  nights  without  water.  Two  men,  one 
named  Lee,  who  had  escaped  from  the  Utah 
penitentiary,  came  to  our  camp  and  traded 
us  some  blankets  for  provisions.  The  first 
water  that  we  expected  to  reach  was  at  a 
mining  camp  called  Hackberry.  When  we 
reached  within  two  miles  of  it,  at  10  o'clock 
at  night,  we  struck  a  sandy  wash  and  lost 
the  road.  The  children  were  crying  for  wa- 
ter, and  we  and  our  animals  were  famishing. 
Water,  in  that  part  of  the  country,  is  so 
scarce,  that  you  may  travel  from  fifty  to 
sixty  miles  in  almost  every  direction  with- 
out finding  it.  We  unhitched  our  teams, 
and  Brother  Jones  and  myself  saddled  our 
horses,  and  drove  our  jaded  animals  up  this 
wash  all  that  night.  Fortunately,  we  found 
water  about  daylight,  which  saved  the  lives 
of  ourselves  and  animals.  In  the  meantime, 
my  brother  David  had  found  the  Hackberry 
water,  which  was  the  means  of  saving  their 
lives.  Hackberry  was  an  old  deserted  min- 
ing camp,  and  a  company  had  just  started  it 
up  again. 

Here  we  traded  what  few  cattle  we  had 
left,  for  horses  and  mules,  and  remained 
two  years  in  order  to  get  another  outfit  so> 

27 


Thrilling  Experiences 

that  we  could  continue  our  journey.  The 
day  before  our  arrival,  the  miners  had 
lynched  a  man  for  killing  another  one.  Lee 
and  his  partner,  the  convicts,  had  also  gone 
to  work  here.  One  day,  in  an  unguarded 
mom'ent,  I  mentioned  to  a  party  the  cir- 
cumstances of  their  escape.  They  happened 
to  hear  of  it,  and  made  up  their  minds  to  kill 
me.  One  night,  while  I  was  out  at  a  wood 
camp,  this  man  Lee  came  out  there  to  at- 
tend to  this  little  matter.  He  would  have 
done  so,  had  it  not  been  for  another  des- 
perado, who  had  taken  a  liking  to  me,  and 
who  stood  guard  over  me  all  that  night. 
During  the  two  years  that  I  remained  here, 
it  seemed  as  if  my  life  was  in  constant  dan- 
ger. It  was  difficult  for  me  to  understand 
the  reason  for  it.  I  was  attending  to  my 
own  business,  and  working  every  day  as  hard 
as  I  could.  However,  I  was  not  prospered 
in  anything.  If  the  rattlesnakes  did  not  bite 
my  horses  on  their  noses,  when  they  were 
eating  grass,  and  kill  them  in  that  way,  the 
animals  were  sure  to  get  their  hind  feet  into 
the  bell  strap,  and  thus  kick  their  own  heads 
off.  And  so  it  went  with  my  other  affairs. 
The  most  curious  part  of  it  was,  that  I  never 
for  a  moment  thought  that  these  misfortunes 
were  coming  upon  me  on  account  of  my  not 
living  my  religion. 

28 


Reaping  Wild  Oats 

All  supplies  for  this  camp  were  brought 
up  the  Colorado  river  on  steam  boats  to  Har- 
dysville.  They  were  then  hauled  on  wa- 
gons to  Hackberry,  about  seventy-five  miles 
east.  There  were  two  ranges  of  mountains 
to  cross,  and  the  roads  over  them  were  quite 
rough  in  places,  especially  during  the  win- 
ter time.  In  crossing  one  of  these  moun- 
tains, from  Mineral  Park  over  to  the  toll 
gate,  I  came  near  losing  my  life  on  two  dif- 
ferent occasions.  It  was  during  the  winter 
season,  in  both  instances.  On  the  east  side, 
there  was  a  dugway,  about  a  mile  and  a 
half  long.  It  was  very  narrow,  steep, 
crooked,  and  covered  with  ice  from  top  to 
bottom.  If  one  should  happen  to  go  over 
the  side,  one  would  go  a  thousand  feet  be- 
low. In  order  to  get  down  with  loaded 
wagons,  it  was  necessary  to  "rough-lock" 
both  hind  wheels.  Even  then  it  was  dan- 
gerous. We  "rough-locked"  in  this  way :  we 
locked  our  wheels  with  chains,  and  then 
wrapped  another  chain  around  the  felloes, 
so  that  it  would  cut  roughly  into  the  ice. 
And  so  we  drove  down.  This  kept  the  wa- 
gon from  crowding  onto  the  team.  The  first 
time,  I  had  only  one  pair  of  animals  on 
my  wagon,  and  the  wagon  was  loaded  with 
iron  pipe.  The  night  was  dark  as  pitch.  I 
had  to  drive  down  about  one  hundred  yards 


29 


Thrilling  Experiences 

before  it  was  steep  enough  to  "rough-lock." 
Unfortunately,  I  had  driven  a  little  too  far, 
and  my  team  was  unable  to  stop  the  wagon. 
We  went  down  almost  as  if  we  had  been 
shot  out  of  a  gun.  Before  I  had  gone  far, 
one  front  wheel  struck  a  projecting  rock.  The 
shock  threw  one  of  my  horses  bodily  clean 
over  the  wagon  tongue,  landing  him  on  his 
back.  The  accident  brought  everything  to 
a  standstill,  and  saved  my  life. 

On  the  next  occasion,  which  was  in  the 
daytime,  I  had  four  animals,  with  a  heavy 
load  of  freight.  The  leaders  were  a  pair  of 
wild  mules.  I  got  my  team  stopped  all 
right,  and  "rough-lockedY  both  hind  wheels. 
I  started  down,  but  had  not  gone  far  before 
both  "rough-locks"  broke  loose,  and  away  I 
went  again !  The  team  went  so  fast  that  I 
could  not  jump  off.  Just  before  we  reached 
a  turn  in  the  road,  and  were  about  to  go  off 
the  dugway,  the  leaders  struck  a  little  piece 
of  ground.  Like  lightning  they  jumped  in 
toward  the  bank  to  save  themiselves,  and  by 
so  doing  threw  the  wagon  into  the  bank, 
piling  us  all  up  in  a  heap.  This  saved  my 
life  again. 

My  protection  from  death  made  me  think 
there  surely  must  be  some  overruling  Pow- 
er watching  over  me.  My  parents  had  been 
dead  ten  years,  and  I  had  strayed  so  far  from 

30 


Reaping  Wild  Oats 

their  teachings,  during  that  time,  that  I  had 
almost  lost  all  faith  in  an  overruling  Provi- 
dence. Sometimes,  when  driving  along  a 
level  road,  with  everything  as  quiet  as  could 
be,  suddenly  my  animals  would  act  as  if  they 
were  fearfully  frightened.  They  would  run 
to  the  right  or  left  of  the  road  as  if  some  hor- 
rible object  were  in  front  of  them. 

I  was  always  trading  horses  in  order  to 
get  animals  that  I  could  trust.  Instead  of 
bettering  my  condition,  I  generally  made  it 
worse.  Once  I  traded  for  a  horse  which  I 
found  out  afterwards  to  be  "Kick- 
ing Dick/'  and  was  known  all  over 
Arizona  by  that  name.  I  also 
owned  a  mule  that  had  killed  a  man 
or  two,  and  his  Arizona  name  was  "Buster." 
They  were  both  professional  kickers,  and 
would  run  away  at  the  drop  of  the  hat.  One 
of  "Dick's"  favorite  tricks  was  to  kick  at  a 
person's  head  with  both  feet.  Several  times 
he  tried  this  on  me,  his  hind  feet  just  grazing 
each  side  of  my  head.  When  he  ran  away, 
it  was  always  on  down  grade,  of  course.  It 
might  probably  be  interesting  to  mention  one 
of  these  runaways ;  it  was  so  novel.  "Bus- 
ter" and  his  fiery  mate  were  in  lead  at  the 
time.  We  had  just  started  down  a  long, 
steep  hill,  and  the  wagon  was  loaded.  A 
miner,  who  had  a  burro,  tied  his  long-eared 

31 


Thrilling  Experiences 

animal  behind  the  wagon,  and  rode  on  the 
seat  with  me.  We  had  not  gone  far  before 
"Dick"  commenced  to  show  us  how  high  he 
could  kick.  The  spring  seat  upon  which  we 
were  sitting,  was  on  the  top  of  a  double- 
bed  wagon  box.  He  kicked  the  brake  off  as 
fast  as  I  could  put  it  on.  We  were  soon  go- 
ing so  fast  that  the  burro  fell  down,  and  we 
dragged  him  along,  which  answered  the 
purpose  of  a  brake.  "Dick"  kicked  and  ran, 
and  ran  and  kicked,  and  finally  jumped  his 
front  feet  into  "Buster's"  singletree  and 
they  were  jerked  from  under  him  so  quickly 
that  he  fell  down.  Between  him  and  the 
burro  and  brake,  we  came  to  a  sudden  stop. 
The  burro  lived,  but  he  looked  like  a  sheared 
sheep  on  one  side,  where  the  long  hair  had 
been  worn  off  to  the  skin. 

I  met  what  the  Arizonans  call  a  tender- 
foot, one  day,  and  he  offered  to  trade  me  a 
pair  of  horses  for  my  leaders.  I  lost  no  time 
in  "taking  him  up"  at  his  offer.  He  wanted 
one  for  a  pack  animal,  and  the  other  to  ride. 
Before  putting  on  the  pack  and  saddle,  I 
blind-folded  the  mules,  so  as  to  help  matters 
along.  He  put  his  pack-saddle  on  "Buster/' 
and  lashed  his  flour,  bacon,  coffee-pot,  frying- 
pan,  camp-kettles  and  other  traps  on  tight. 
He  put  his  saddle  on  the  other  mule.  When 
he  was  all  ready,  I  took  the  blinds  off,  and 

32 


Reaping  Wild  Oats 

the  way  things  flew  was  really  surprising. 
The  tenderfoot  went  one  way  and  "Buster" 
the  other.  I  have  never  seen  or  heard  of 
them  since. 

One  day  I  was  driving  down  a  steep, 
rocky  mountain  with  eight  animals  and  two 
loaded  wagons.  I  had  a  desire  to  learn  the 
Spanish  language,  so  hired  a  Mexican  boy 
who  could  not  speak  a  word  of  English.  He 
was  attending  to  the  brake  on  the  hind  wa- 
gon, while  I  was  driving  and  looking  after 
the  front  one.  The  wagons  began  to  crowd 
onto  the  animals.  I  called  to  the  boy  in 
Spanish  to  des  menah,  and  he  suddenly 
threw  the  brake  off,  and  the  consequence 
was  that  one  of  the  wagons  was  broken  all 
to  pieces.  I  had  made  a  mistake.  I  should 
have  said  menah,  which  means,  "hobble  the 
wheels."  This  one  word  of  Spanish  cost 
me  one  hundred  dollars,  and  I  was  one  hun- 
dred miles  from  home.  I  was  disgusted 
with  the  language  and  discharged  the  boy. 

My  Arizona  experience  has  already  been 
a  horrible  nightmare,  and  what  I  have  writ- 
ten covers  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  trou- 
bles and  dangers  which  I  passed  through 
while  there.  It  appears  to  have  been  an 
experience  that  I  had  to  pass  through  in 
order  to  bring  me  to  my  senses.  I  had  a 
mission  to  perform,  and  was  in  no  condition 

33 


Thrilling  Experiences 

to  perform  it  until  I  had  reaped  the  wild 
oats  which  I  had  formerly  so  bountifully 
sown.  But  I  knew  nothing  of  these  things 
when  I  was  being  buffeted  and  knocked 
about  in  this  way,  as  I  believe  by  the  evil 
one.  I  did  not  know  that  it  was  God's  an- 
gels that  were  saving  my  life  continually 
while  I  was  passing  through  these  terrible 
dangers.  This  was  all  made  plain  to  me 
later  on.  Then  I  could  understand  why  it 
was  necessary  for  me  to  suffer  and  be  con- 
tinually tormented.  I  had  not  lived  the 
life  of  a  Latter-day  Saint,  but  had  strayed 
away  from  the  teachings  of  my  father  and 
mother.  I  discovered  that  I  had  my  agency, 
but  that  I  would  be  held  accountable  for 
every  idle  word  that  I  uttered.  In  writing 
these  experiences,  and  others  to  follow,  I 
do  it  against  my  natural  inclination,  but 
with  the  hope  that  they  will  prove  a  warn- 
ing to  others. 


PLUCKED  FROM  THE  BURNING 

He  wandered  near  the  brink  of  a  chasm, 

The  night  was  as  dark  a,s  the  grave; 

A  terrible  storm  was  raging, 

Guardian  angels  were  determined  to  save. 

Demons  stood  around  him  grinning, 

Anxiously  waiting  his   fall; 

Loving  parents   were   bitterly  weeping, 

Receiving  no  answer  to  their  call. 

While  the  jaws  of  hell  was  yawning, 

Ready  to  receive  its  prey; 

A  timely  flash  of  lightning 

Made  his  course  as  plain  as  day. 

Picket  Post  was  an  old  government  fort 
in  Pinal  county,  Arizona.  It  was  located 
in  the  foothills,  about  fifty  miles  due  east  of 
Mesa.  After  it  had  been  abandoned  by 
Uncle  Sam,  it  became  a  prominent  mining 
camp,  and  the  name  was  changed  to  Pinal. 
After  freighting  over  the  wilds  of  Arizona 
for  three  years  and  a  half,  I  opened  a  liv- 
ery and  feed  stable  at  this  place.  Soon  af- 
ter, I  formed  a  partnership  with  a  man  who 
had  been  well  recommended  to  me.  We  did 
a  good  business,  and  made  money. 

President    A.    F.    MacDonald,    and    my 

35 


Thrilling  Experiences 

father-in-law,  Francis  M.  Pomeroy,  visited 
me  about  this  time.  Among  the  things  they 
told  me  was  this :  That  if  I  would  do  right, 
and  pay  my  tithing,  the  Lord  would  bless 
me ;  but  if  not,  things  would  riot  be  well 
with  me.  Up  to  this  time  I  had  never  given 
a  cent  of  tithing  in  my  life.  I  paid  but  lit- 
tle attention  to  what  they  said,  and  felt 
pretty  well  satisfied  the  way  things  were 
going.  I  did  nothing  towards  living  my  re- 
ligion. I  was  the  only  man  in  the  place  who 
claimed  connection  with  the  "Mormon" 
Church  in  any  way.  My  partner  kept  the 
books  and  handled  the  cash,  and  I  took 
charge  of  the  other  affairs.  One  morning 
he  saddled  a  horse,  and  said  he  was  going 
into  the  hills  to  collect  a  bill,  and  I  have 
never  seen  him  since.  I  learned  afterwards 
that  he  had  collected  all  bills,  borrowed  all 
the  money  that  he  could  on  our  names,  and 
drawn  out  what  cash  we  had  in  the  bank. 
He  then  crossed  the  line  into  Old  Mexico, 
which  is  about  eighty-five  miles  away. 

After  I  learned  that  I  was  financially 
ruined,  I  began  to  think  over  what  Presi- 
dent MacDonald  had  told  me,  but  it  was  too 
late  then  to  "lock  the  stable  door."  I  made 
up  my  mind  to  close  this  stable,  and  to  lease 
a  smaller  one  in  another  part  of  the  town. 
That  night  I  dreamed  that  I  found  two  eggs, 

36 


Plucked  From  the  Burning 

larger  than  turkey  eggs.  I  broke  one  of 
them,  and  to  my  surprise  found  a  large  scor- 
pion in  it,  which  filled  the  whole  shell.  I  felt 
tempted  to  open  the  other,  but  thinking  that 
I  might  find  something  worse,  changed  my 
mind.  When  I  awoke,  the  interpretation 
was  made  plain.  I  had  already  opened  one 
feed  stable,  and  knew  the  results.  I  did 
not  care  to  open  the  other.  My  creditors 
were  following  me  about,  but  I  could  do 
nothing  for  them.  I  became  discouraged, 
and  almost  heart-broken.  My  wife  and  child 
had  gone  to  Mesa  to  visit  her  parents.  The 
harder  I  worked  to  pay  my  debts,  the  black- 
er things  looked  ahead.  I  began  to  have 
horrible  night  visions.  I  dreamed  that  I 
was  in  hurricanes,  and  earthquakes,  even 
hearing  the  deafening  sounds.  I  saw  my- 
self in  company  with  some  of  my  brothers 
on  the  brink  of  precipices,  in  the  act  of  fall- 
ing off.  These  things  began  to  start  my 
religious  blood  to  circulating.  It  caused  me 
to  think  seriously  of  the  things  my  father 
had  taught  me,  in  years  gone  by.  Satan  was 
on  the  spot  to  magnify  my  troubles  to  the 
uttermost.  When  I  had  reached  the  zenith 
of  my  trouble,  as  I  supposed,  I  received, 
from  my  sister,  Helen  M.,  a  little  book  that 
had  just  been  published,  entitled  H.  C.  Kim- 
ball's  Journal ;  also  a  blessing  given  to  me 

37 


Thrilling  Experiences 

when  I  was  but  eight  days  old.  I  had  never 
seen  either  of  them  before.  This  is  the  bless- 
ing, as  recorded  by  President  Willard  Rich- 
ards: 

A  blessing  upon  the  head  of  Solomon  Farnham, 
son  of  Heber  C.  and  Vilate  M.  Kimball,  born  at 
Winter  Quarters,  February  2nd,  1847,  by  President 
B.  Young,  with  H.  C.  Kimball,  N.  K.  Whitney  and 
A.  Cutler,  at  the  house  of  H.  C.  Kimball. 

Solomon  Farnham,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  by  virtue  of  the  Holy  Priesthood, 
we  lay  our  hands  upon  thy  head,  and  bless  thee 
with  the  blessings  of  thy  fathers  and  of  thy  fore- 
fathers, and  of  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and 
with  the  blessings  of  eternal  life.  Thou  shalt  not 
be  a  whit  behind  any  of  thy  father's  house  in 
blessings,  but  shall  receive  them  in  due  time,  for 
thou  shalt  live  and  enjoy  life,  and  the  angels  shall 
have  charge  over  thee,  and  thou  shalt  have  do- 
minion over  every  foul  spirit,  and  over  death  it- 
self, and  possess  great  treasures  of  wisdom  and 
knowledge;  and  we  seal  you  unto  your  father  and 
mother,  and  bless  you  with  all  the  blessings  of  the 
new  and  everlasting  covenant,  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Amen. 

After  reading  the  blessing  over  several 
times,  carefully,  I  commenced  to  read  the 
book.  There  was  an  overruling  Power  that 
began  to  work  with  me,  but  I  did  not  know 
it.  I  little  understood  these  things,  then.  1 
yet  had  to  pass  through  severe  mental  suf- 
fering, in  order  to  prepare  me  for  what  was 
coming.  Satan  had  laid  his  plans  to  de- 

38 


Plucked  From  the  Burning 

stroy  me.  If  he  could  accomplish  this,  he 
would  prove  President  Young  to  be  a  false 
prophet.  By  the  next  day  I  had  read  the 
book  through.  I  went  to  bed  that  evening 
pondering  over  these  things.  I  could  not 
sleep.  I  felt  evil  influences  gathering 
around  me  that  I  could  not  understand.  It 
was  so  different  from  anything  I  had  ever 
experienced  before.  I  had  been  taught  to 
pray  by  my  parents,  but  had  neglected  pray- 
ing. This  oppressive  spirit  began  to  bear 
down  upon  me  in  great  power.  I  felt  that 
I  could  not  endure  it  much  longer.  I  soon 
found  myself  upon  my  knees,  praying  like  a 
chaplain,  but  could  get  no  relief.  I  was 
alone,  and  the  town  people  had  gone  to  bed. 
I  walked  the  floor,  and  made  a  strong  effort 
to  cry,  but  this  was  denied  me.  I  got  down 
on  my  knees  again,  and  told  the  Lord  of  all 
the  mean  things  that  I  had  ever  done  in  my 
life,  and  it  took  a  long  time.  The  harder 
I  prayed  the  worse  I  felt,  and  the  worse  I 
felt  the  harder  I  prayed.  I  kept  this  up  all 
night.  It  seemed  like  iron  under  my  feet 
and  brass  over  my  head.  I  felt  that  I  had 
been  abandoned  to  the  powers  of  darkness 
which  were  determined  to  destroy  me.  It  was 
almost  daylight,  and  I  was  about  to  give  up, 
when  relief  came.  The  Lord  had  heard  my 
prayers.  Darkness  had  fled,  and  the  heaven- 

39 


Thrilling  Experiences 

ly  influence  that  took  possession  of  me  al- 
most lifted  me  from  my  feet. 

For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  received 
a  spiritual  communication  from  the  hea- 
vens. My  father,  when  I  was  a  child,  called 
me  his  spiritual-minded  boy,  and  I  enjoyed 
that  gift  to  a  great  extent  in  my  younger 
days.  Here  was  so  much  greater  that  I 
could  not  help  but  clap  my  hands  for  joy, 
and  weep  like  a  child.  This  is  the  word  that 
I  received :  "Return  to  the  Mesa  ward.  Re- 
new your  covenants.  Pay  your  tithing.  Go 
to  the  temple,  and  have  your  wife  and 
child  sealed  to  you.  Live  the  life  of  a 
Latter-day  Saint,  and  then  I  will  forgive 
you  of  your  sins,  and  will  bless  you." 

I  felt  as  if  my  head  were  a  fountain 
of  tears.  I  continued  to  weep  and  to  praise 
the  Lord  as  long  as  I  remained  in  that 
place.  The  people  thought^  that  I  had  gone 
crazy.  By  noon  I  had  sold  and  given  away 
almost  everything  I  had.  By  three  o'clock 
I  said  good-by  to  Final,  and  have  never  seen 
it  since. 

That  afternoon,  in  company  with  some 
of  our  Mesa  boys,  we  drove  out  on  the 
desert,  about  twenty  miles,  and  camped  for 
the  night.  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  had  re- 
mained with  me  until  this  time.  I  could 
begin  to  feel  it  withdrawing  from  me.  Af- 

40 


Plucked  From  the  Burning 

ter  supper  I  took  my  bed  and  went  off  about 
one  hundred  yards  by  myself.  I  felt  as  if  I 
wanted  to  be  alone.  I  made  my  bed,  and  af- 
ter I  had  prayed,  went  to  rest  thoroughly 
worn  out.  I  slept  pretty  well  until  to- 
wards morning,  when  the  evil  one  made 
another  assault  upon  me,  only  in  a  different 
way.  As  I  lay  on  my  back,  I  was  unable 
to  move  a  muscle,  for  at  least  an  hour.  I 
could  not  utter  a  word,  not  even  whisper. 
Then  the  fallen  spirits  showed  themselves, 
one  at  a  time.  All  I  could  see  of  them  was 
their  heads  and  bodies  down  to  their 
waists.  They  would  pass  in  front  of  me,  re- 
main about  a  quarter  of  a  minute,  gnash  their 
teeth,  make  faces,  and  then  pass  on.  Then 
another  one  would  take  his  place.  I  never 
saw  the  sarae  face  twice,  and  they  appeared 
to  be  all  males.  It  would  be  impossible  to 
describe  the  horrible  countenances  of  these 
imips  of  hell.  I  knew  that  they  could  not 
kill  me,  from  what  the  Lord  had  told  me. 
Neither  was  I  frightened  of  them,  but  it 
was  a  fearful  position  to  be  in.  They  kept 
this  up  until  daylight,  and  then  left.  I  got 
up  and  dressed  myself,  and  prayed,  but  felt 
downcast  all  that  day.  We  reached  Mesa 
about  noon.  After  dinner  I  sought  Presi- 
dent MacDonald,  and  related  my  experiences 
to  him.  He  advised  me  to  say  nothing 

41  D 


Thrilling  Experiences 

about  it  to  any  one,  but  do  as  I  was  told. 
He  said  he  would  be  a  father  to  me,  and  as- 
sist me  in  any  way  that  he  could.  I  asked 
him  what  I  should  do  first.  He  said,  "Go 
to  Brother  C.  I.  Robson,  and  ask  him  to  re- 
baptize  you."  I  told  him  that  I  was  not  on 
speaking  term's  with  him.  He  said,  "That 
makes  no  difference ;  go  and  ask  his  forgive- 
ness." I  went  down  to  Brother  Robson's 
house.  He  was  making  cane  molasses.  I 
asked  him  if  he  would  forgive  me.  He  was 
so  astonished  that  he  came  near  falling  over 
backwards.  The  tears  began  to  stream  down 
his  cheeks,  and  he  said,  "Certainly  I  will, 
and  I  want  you  to  forgive  me,"  which,  of 
course,  I  did.  I  then  asked  him  if  he  would 
rebaptize  me,  and  he  said  he  would.  He  put 
his  coat  on,  and  we  went  up  to  the  Mesa 
canal,  and  there  he  performed  the  ceremony. 
I  had  a  few  horses  and  a  couple  of  wa- 
gons left.  The  next  day  I  met  a  brother 
who  wanted  to  trade  me  a  home  for  them. 
We  closed  the  bargain.  This  gave  me 
a  cozy  little  home  with  about  four 
acres  of  land  already  cultivated.  I 
attended  all  the  meetings,  and  was 
probably  the  most  humble  man  in  the  place. 
I  said  nothing  about  my  experience  to  any 
one,  excepting  my  wife.  Many  of  the  Saints, 
as  well  as  the  sinners,  could  not  under- 

42 


Plucked  From  the  Burning 

stand  the  sudden  change  that  had  come 
over  me.  Some  treated  me  well,  while  others 
looked  upon  me  with  suspicion.  I  attended 
to  my  family  prayers  twice  a  day,  and  com- 
menced studying  the  Scriptures.  I  was  try- 
ing to  make  up  for  lost  time.  I  felt  that  I 
had  come  in  at  the  eleventh  hour. 

That  winter,  Apostle  Erastus  Snow  came 
down  from  Utah  to  organize  us  into  a  stake 
of  Zion.  There  were  probably  five  or  six 
hundred  saints  in  that  part  of  Arizona,  at 
the  time.  He  had  a  hard  time  in  selecting 
suitable  timber  for  this  organization.  It 
took  him  about  three  days  to  complete  his 
work.  I  was  acquainted  with  some  of  the 
men  whom  he  had  chosen  to  fill  these  offices. 
Some  of  the  timber  he  used  was  somewhat 
warped,  and  had  some  knots  in  it,  but  he  did 
the  best  he  could.  Brother  Snow  had  been 
a  close  friend  to  my  father  and  mother,  and 
visited  them  often  when  they  were  alive. 
Many  times  he  had  trotted  me  on  his  knee 
when  I  was  small.  During  the  conference, 
I  kept  listening,  expecting  to  hear  mjy  name 
called,  but  was  considerably  disappointed. 
After  conference  had  adjourned,  for  the  first 
time  I  began  to  feel  my  littleness.  I  won- 
dered if  it  could  be  possible  that  I  was  a  less 
worthy  man  than  any  of  those  he  had  cho- 
sen. Brother  Snow  could  read  my  inmost 

43 


Thrilling  Experiences 

thoughts.  He  understood  me  better  than  I 
understood  myself.  Before  starting  home, 
he  took  me  by  the  hand,  in  a  kind  and 
fatherly  manner,  and  said :  "Brother  Solo- 
mon, if  you  will  continue  to  do  right,  I  prom- 
ise you,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  that  it 
will  not  be  long  before  you  will  hold  more 
offices  than  you  will  be  able  to  take  care 
of."  He  then  prayed  God  to  bless  me.  This 
did  me  great  good.  I  took  hold  of  my  re- 
ligious duties  with  a  vim,  and  never  left 
a  stone  unturned.  The  worst  thing  I  had  to 
contend  with  was  the  self-righteous  ele- 
ment. One  prominent  man,  who  was  the 
best  friend  I  had  when  I  was  doing  wrong, 
was  my  worst  enemy  when  I  commenced 
to  do  right.  His  class  could  not  bear  to  see 
me  living  my  religion.  They  were  contin- 
ually throwing  blocks  in  my  way.  One  day, 
at  a  general  conference,  one  of  them,  in 
speaking  of  those  who  had  been  seeking  af- 
ter the  things  of  the  world,  said  it  reminded 
him  of  Sol.  Kimball.  After  meeting  I  called 
his  attention  to  it.  I  told  him  that  I  had 
been  confessing  my  sins  for  the  last  three 
years.  I  thought  that  he  ought  to  confess 
his  own  sins.  He  offered  to  apologize  to 
me  at  the  afternoon  meeting,  but  I  would 
not  submit  to  it.  The  way  some  of  the 
brethren  treated  me,  I  began  to  feel  like  it 

44 


Plucked  From  the  Burning 

was  no  use  for  me  to  try  to  do  right.  Some 
of  them  preached  doctrine  which,  if  true, 
would  bar  me  out  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
And  if  I  should  happen  to  get  there,  I  should 
be  covered  with  scars.  I  heard  so  many  of 
these  things  that  I  began  to  feel  that  I  was 
throwing  my  time  away  in  trying  to  work 
out  my  salvation.  I  became  despondent, 
and  thoroughly  discouraged.  I  was  between 
two  very  hot  fires.  I  did  not  know  what  to 
do.  I  resorted  to  fasting  and  praying.  I 
wanted  to  find  out,  if  possible,  whether  my 
labors  during  the  last  three  years  had  been 
acceptable  to  the  Lord.  One  morning,  be- 
fore breakfast,  I  went  off  into  the  desert, 
and  prayed  with  great  earnestness  before 
the  Lord  in  relation  to  this  matter.  After  I 
had  been  on  my  knees  for  twenty-five  or 
thirty  minutes,  I  started  back  home  thinking 
over  these  things.  I  had  not  gone  far,  when 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  in  a  very  satisfactory 
and  comprehensive  manner,  informed  me 
that  my  labors  had  been  acceptable  to  him, 
and  that  my  sins  had  been  forgiven.  It  made 
such  a  deep  and  lasting  impression  upon  my 
mind,  that  I  have  never  felt  discouraged  in 
relation  to  such  matters  since. 

About  this  time  there  was  a  small  com- 
pany getting  ready  to  go  to  the  St.  George 
Temple.  I  had  a  team  and  wagon.  I  sold 

45 


Thtilling  Experiences 

my  only  cow  to  get  an  outfit  to  go  along 
with  them.  The  distance  to  St.  George  was 
five  hundred  miles,  and  two  hundred  of  it 
over  a  very  rough  country.  We  made  the 
trip  to  St.  George  in  three  weeks.  After 
having  my  wife  and  children  sealed  to  me,  I 
felt  that  I  had  carried  out  the  instructions 
of  the  Lord  to  the  letter.  My  heart  was 
light,  and  my  sins  were  forgiven.  I  hitched 
up  my  team,  and,  with  my  wife  and  children, 
drove  home  all  alone.  We  did  not  see  a 
living  soul  for  the  first  two  hundred  miles, 
except  the  man  who  ran  Pearce's  Ferry.  I 
drove  the  five  hundred  miles  in  thirteen  and 
a  half  days,  and  was  the  happiest  man  in 
Mesa,  when  I  arrived  there.  I  continued 
to  live  there  until  June,  1886.  When  I  left, 
Brother  Snow's  prediction  upon  my  head  had 
been  literally  fulfilled.  I  did  hold  more 
Church  offices  than  I  could  well  take  care 
of,  among  them  being  ward  clerk,  secretary 
of  Sunday  school,  and  one  of  the  seven 
presidents  of  a  seventies'  quorum. 

Let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth, 
Remember,   take  heed  lest  he  fall; 

For  the  Saint  who  boasts  of  his  goodness, 
Is  not  worthy  of  the  name  at  all. 

God  loves  that  humble  servant, 

Who  trembles  under  His  power; 

He  will  make  him  strong  in  Zion, 
i  Tho*  he  comes  at  the  eleventh  hour. 

46 


A  MYSTERIOUS  VOICE 

All  Saints  who  remember  to  keep  and  do  these  sayings, 

Walking  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  the  Lord; 

Shall  have  health  in  their  navel  and  marrow  in  their 

bones, 
Wisdom,    knowledge,    hidden   treasures,    shall   be  their 

reward. 
They  shall  run  and  not  be  weary,  shall  walk  and  not 

faint, 
And   the   dread   destroying  angel,   shall   pass  by  their 

gate. 

Arizona's  rainy  season  generally  occurs 
during  the  summer  months,  and  after  the 
water  has  subsided,  the  farmers  in  that  sec- 
tion of  country  usually  spend  a  few  days  re- 
pairing dams  that  have  been  damaged  by 
the  floods.  One  hot  summer  day  I  was  haul- 
ing rocks  for  the  Mesa  dam,  on  the  Salt  river. 
The  wind  was  blowing  quite  hard  at  the 
time.  The  rushing  of  the  waters  over  the 
dam,  mingling  its  voice  with  the  moaning 
and  sighing  of  the  wind,  almost  makes  one 
believe  that  he  hears  beautiful  music;  or 
human  beings  crying,  singing  or  talking. 

I  had  just  driven  my  tearrf  into  the  river 
with  a  load  of  rocks,  and  unloaded  them,  and 

47 


Thrilling  Experiences 

was  in  the  act  of  taking  a  chew  of  tobacco, 
when,  to  my  great  surprise,  I  heard  a  voice 
saying,  "Don't  chew  any  more  tobacco."  I 
looked  around  to  see  if  I  could  see  anyone 
close  by,  and  then  drove  away  for  another 
load.  While  doing  so  I  felt  like  a  big  simple- 
ton, for  allowing  myself  to  believe  such  ap- 
parent nonsense  as  hearing  a  voice  repeat 
those  words,  since  there  was  no  one  within 
a  hundred  yards  of  me.  I  gathered  up  an- 
other load,  and  drove  back  to  the  same 
place,  and  threw  it  onto  the  brush,  on  the 
dam.  I  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
Arizona  wind  and  water  had  perpetrated  a 
huge  joke  on  me.  My  tobacco  was  a  great 
comfort  to  me,  and  I  felt  that  I  did  not  wish 
to  be  deceived  by  the  elements  of  that  hot 
and  sultry  country.  I  then  looked  all  around 
again,  to  make  sure  that  no  one  was  near, 
and  just  as  I  was  biting  off  a  chew,  I  heard 
the  same  voice,  only  in  a  little  louder  tone, 
saying,  /'Never  take  another  chew  of  tobac- 
co as  long  as  you  live." 

I  hardly  knew  what  to  think,  but  said  to 
myself,  it  is  not  the  wind  and  water  this 
time,  but  really  and  truly  a  human  voice.  In 
years  gone  by  I  was  not  a  man  to  believe 
such  things,  and  had  been  severe  in  my  criti- 
cism of  others  in  relation  to  such  matters ; 
but  now  I  had  something  to  think  about,  sure 

48 


A  Mysterious  Voice 

enough.  I  continued  my  work  until  noon,  at 
the  same  time  discussing  this  subject  in 
my  mind.  I  said  nothing  to  the  boys  about  it 
during  the  dinner  hour,  although  they  could 
see  that  I  was  considerably  agitated  over 
something.  I  knew  that  by  telling  them 
about  it,  it  would  make  me  the  laughing 
stock  of  the  whole  crowd.  In  the  afternoon 
it  was  hard  for  me  to  keep  from  taking  a 
chew,  and  there  was  quite  a  strong  influence 
working  with  me.  It  was  bringing  all  kinds 
of  arguments  to  bear  upon  this  subject,  and 
trying  to  convince  me  that  it  was  my  imag- 
ination pure  and  simple,  and  that  the  wind 
and  water  combined,  had  a  good  deal  to  do 
with  it.  There  were  other  things  that  made 
it  hard  for  me  to  overcome  this  habit.  I 
had  an  appetite  for  liquor,  but  had  not 
touched  it  for  about  two  years,  and  was  de- 
termined never  to  taste  it  again.  Under 
these  circumstances  I  felt  that  it  would  be 
more  than  I  could  bear,  to  put  my  old 
friend  tobacco  behind  me.  I  understood 
what  a  curse  the  liquor  habit  is,  and  felt 
that  if  I  could  overcome  it,  I  would  be  do- 
ing very  well.  I  believed  that  by  using  to- 
bacco it  would  help  me  to  overcome  the 
greater  evil. 

When   I   had  driven   my  team  into  the 
river  with   my  last  load,  that  afternoon,   I 

49 


Thrilling  Experiences 

had  convinced  myself  that  I  had  heard  no 
voice  at  all,  and  had  also  made  up  my  mind 
to  take  a  chew  of  tobacco,  if  it  were  the  last 
act  of  my  life.  The  gnawing,  craving,  and 
hankering  after  it,  was  almost  driving  me 
crazy.  I  then  took  it  out  of  my  pocket  for 
the  third  time,  and  just  as  I  was  going  to 
take  a  chew,  I  heard  the  same  voice  again, 
plainly  and  distinctly,  saying,  "Solomon, 
never  touch  tobacco  again  as  long  as  you 
live." 

I  made  up  my  mind  to  do  as  I  was  told, 
let  the  consequences  be  what  they  may.  I 
said  nothing  about  it  to  anyone,  except  my 
wife,  who  was  a  good  Latter-day  Saint. 
From  that  time  on,  the  craving  for  tobacco 
gradually  left  me,  but  the  appetite  for  liquor 
began  to  get  in  its  deadly  work,  just  at  a 
time  when  I  needed  help  and  encouragement 
the  most.  It  seemed  to  me  like  the  powers 
of  darkness  had  begun  to  gather  around  me, 
thicker  than  ever.  For  two  years  I  had 
made  the  effort  of  my  life  to  overcome  my 
weakness,  and  live  the  life  of  a  Latter-day 
Saint,  but  it  seemed  like  fate  was  against 
me.  I  commenced  to  fast  and  pray,  and 
humble  myself  mightily  before  the  Lord, 
crying  unto  him  day  and  night,  to  deliver 
me  from  this  cursed  viper.  I  had  to  use 
all  the  energy  and  will  power  that  I  could 

50 


A  Mysterious  Voice 

possibly  muster,  in  order  to  resist  the  ter- 
rible disease  that  was  getting  the  upper 
hand  of  me.  There  was  no  Keeley  cure  in 
those  days,  and  we  were  left  to  ourselves, 
unless  we  could  get  help  from  above.  I 
would  dream  of  drinking  it  nights,  and  thirst 
for  it  in  the  daytime.  One  evening,  after 
fasting  for  twenty-four  hours,  and  spending 
a  goodly  portion  of  that  time  in  praying  to 
the  Lord  for  help,  his  Spirit  whispered  these 
words  to  me,  "If  you  will  observe  the  Word 
of  Wisdom,  the  liquor  habit  will  leave  you/' 
This  was  like  a  clap  of  thunder  out  of  a 
clear  sky.  I  had  been  drinking  a  good  deal 
of  strong  tea  and  coffee  up  to  this  time, 
and  it  seemed  so  strange  afterwards,  that  I 
should  overlook  so  important  a  revelation 
as  was  the  Word  of  Wisdom  upon  this  sub- 
feet.  If  I  had  obeyed  its  teachings  when  I 
left  Final  and  joined  the  Mesa  ward,  two 
years  before,  what  a  blessing  it  would 
have  been  to  me  in  many  respects!  I 
obeyed  the  instructions  received,  and  from 
that  day  until  the  present  time,  I  have  nev- 
er drunk  a  drop  of  intoxicants  of  any  de- 
scription, neither  have  I  used  tea,  coffee,  or 
tobacco.  In  less  than  two  months  I  could 
master  all  of  these  habits  pretty  well,  and  in 
less  than  a  year,  I  had  no  desire  for  them 
whatever. 

51 


Thrilling  Experiences 

Sometimes  I  drank  a  cup  or  two  of  choc- 
olate, but  soon  found  out  that  it,  too,  be- 
longs to  the  same  family,  and  I  have  never 
drunk  it  since.  By  using  a  good  deal  of  tea, 
coffee  and  tobacco,  and  drinking  the  Salt 
River  water  during  the  hot  summer  months, 
Bright's  disease  took  hold  of  my  system.  It 
had  gotten  such  a  hold  that  I  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  Arizona  in  order  to  save  my 
life.  The  physician  who  has  been  treating 
me  for  this  malady  for  the  last  seven  years, 
told  me  that  I  would  have  been  dead  years 
ago,  had  it  not  been  for  my  temperate  ha- 
bits. This  doctor,  who  is  a  non-"Mormon," 
refuses  to  treat  his  patients  for  kidney 
troubles,  unless  they  keep  the  Word  of  Wis- 
dom, not  even  allowing  them  to  eat  meat. 
By  keeping  the  Word  of  Wisdom  my  life 
has  been  spared  probably  twelve  or  fifteen 
years,  which  has  enabled  me  to  support  and 
educate  my  family.  I  have  also  lived  to 
take  a  prominent  part  in  my  father's  family 
affairs,  performing  a  good  mission  in  that 
direction.  It  has  given  me  an  opportunity 
to  search  the  Scriptures,  and  get  a  fair  un- 
derstanding of  the  principles  of  "Mormon- 
ism."  And  last,  but  not  least,  it  has  made 
me  more  charitable  towards  God's  children 
who  are  weighed  down  with  the  weakness 
of  the  flesh,  and  who  need  a  helping  hand 

52 


A  Mysterious  Voice 

above  all  others.  I  have  heard  mothers 
blaming  their  parents,  or  husbands,  or  some- 
body else,  for  the  liquor  habit  that  has  been 
fastened  upon  their  children.  They  are 
wrong  in  doing  this,  as  they  themselves  are 
to  blame  to  a  great  extent.  They  are,  per- 
haps, continually  setting  before  their  chil- 
dren things  to  eat  and  drink  that  are  creat- 
ing these  appetites.  If  parents  will  bring 
their  children  up  to  keep  the  Word  of  Wis- 
dom, and  set  the  example  themselves,  they 
will  never  be  bothered  over  such  things. 
Meat  is  a  stimulant,  and  to  eat  it,  especially 
during  the  summer  months,  will  create  an 
appetite  for  liquor,  just  the  same  as  tea,  cof- 
fee or  tobacco  will.  On  account  of  my  false 
pride,  I  have  kept  my  personal  experience  in 
relation  to  such  matters  a  secret  until  now, 
but  feel  that  I  would  be  doing  wrong  if  I 
did  so  any  longer.  There  are  thousands 
of  good  people  who  are  victims  of  this  dis- 
ease, and  are  being  continually  tormented 
by  these  unnatural  appetites.  The  Word  of 
Wisdom  is  a  perfect  cure  for  them,  and  it  is 
as  free  as  the  air  that  we  breathe. 


53 


A  PRICELESS  REWARD 

Since  God  the  Father  in  his  wisdom  laid, 
Plans  of  the  earth  he  so  wondrously  made; 
Records   of  important  events   have   been  kept; 
Save  when  the  world  in  her  wickedness  slept. 
Had  our  forefathers  this  work  neglected, 
Our  mission  to  earth  would  be  sadly  affected; 
Deprived  of  these  precious  historical  events; 
Man  might  be  living  as  Indians  in  tents. 

The  Bible  gives  account  of  Father  Adam's  fall, 
And  brings  the  records  down  to  the  days  of  Paul; 
This  with  Mormon's  American  history 
Unfolds  to  the  world  a  marvel  and  mystery. 

Our  great  modern  Prophet  without  favor  or  fear. 
Has  revealed  many  truths  important  to  hear; 
He  told  of  God's  greatness  throughout  boundless 

space ; 

And  how  he  communed  with  him  face  to  face, 
He  gave  to  the  world  hundreds  of  pages 
That  give  glorious  accounts  of  heavenly  sages; 
We'll  ne'er  comprehend  all  he  had  to  say 
Until  we  have  reached  the  Millennial  day. 

The  Lord  is  not  pleased  when  Apostles  of  fame, 
Who  have  been  sent  to  earth  to  teach  in  his  name — 
Men  who  have  lived  in  our  generation  and  day — 
Who  have  spent  their  whole  lives  preaching  without 
pay; 

U 


A  Priceless   Reward 

To  have  their  records  molding  and  musting; 
Their  valuable  journals  rotting  and  rusting; 
'Cause  thoughtless  descendants  have  stowed  them 

away; 
Hence  valuable  history  in  pigeon-holes  lay. 

After  the  Saints  had  been  driven  West, 
and  had  established  themselves  in  these  val- 
leys, among  the  first  things  that  the  lead- 
ers of  the  Church  did  was  to  get  their  his- 
torical records  together.  They  realized 
that  Church  history  would  be  dependent 
upon  these  records  to  a  great  extent.  The 
Lord  through  the  Prophet  Joseph,  had  in- 
structed them  to  keep  a  record  of  all  prin- 
cipal events  of  their  lives,  which  made  it 
doubly  important.  I  well  remember  the 
interest  manifested  by  my  father  in  rela- 
tion to  such  matters.  He  had  been  ata 
apostle  for  twelve  years,  and  one  of  the 
First  Presidency  for  twenty.  During  the 
drivings  and  mobbings  of  the  Saints  he 
had  lost  the  part  of  his  journal  that  con- 
tained an  account  of  his  second  mission  to 
England.  This  he  felt  keenly,  as  it  made  a 
break  into  one  of  the  most  important  per- 
iods of  his  life.  When  time  permitted,  he 
had  Brother  Thomas  Bullock  come  to  his 
house,  and  they  sometimes  spent  a  week  or 
two  straightening  out  these  records  and 
compiling  history.  In  order  to  do  this,  they 

55 


Thrilling  Experiences 

had  to  wade  through  hundreds  of  pages  of 
blurred  and  dingy  journals,  and  package  af- 
ter package  of  old,  musty  letters.  Father 
would  then  let  this  work  rest  for  a  year  or 
two,  or  until  the  spirit  came  upon  him 
again.  He  would  then  get  Brother  Robert 
Campbell,  or  some  other  competent  man,  to 
assist  him.  He  continued  in  this  way  as 
long  as  he  lived.  After  his  death,  there  was 
nothing  more  done  with  his  history  until 
the  fall  of  1876.  I  was  living  with  my  sis- 
ter Helen  at  the  time.  We  were  in  pos- 
session of  all  of  father's  letters,  journals 
and  manuscripts.  We  knew  that  he  had 
prophesied  that  Edward  W.  Tullidge  would 
write  his  history,  so  I  visited  Mr.  Tullidge 
several  times  in  relation  to  this  matter.  He 
finally  agreed  to  write  the  history  and  pub- 
lish three  thousand  volumes  for  three  thou- 
sand dollars.  He  was  present  when  father 
made  the  prediction  concerning  him,  and 
knew  about  the  lost  records. 

With  this  fact  in  view,  and  while  writing 
the  history  of  the  Prophet  Joseph  and  Presi- 
dent Young,  he  made  a  note  of  any  historical 
facts  bearing  upon  this  part  of  father's  life. 
This  advantage  enabled  him  to  write  the 
history  in  about  six  months.  In  the  mfean- 
time,  I  had  taken  up  a  labor  with  my  fath- 
er's family,  and  found  the  majority  of  them 

56 


A  Priceless  Reward 

not  in  sympathy  with  this  movement.  How- 
ever, I  managed  to  collect  thirteen  hundred 
dollars  in  cash  and  five  hundred  dollars  in 
real  estate.  This  I  turned  over  to  Mr.  Tul- 
lidge,  and  from  that  on  it  seemed  like  fate 
was  against  us  and  we  were  forced  to  let 
this  work  rest  here.  That  summer  1  went 
to  Arizona,  where  I  remained  nine  years. 
After  I  returned,  I  spent  several  weeks  vis- 
iting the  family.  The  history  spirit  came 
upon  me  again  stronger  than  ever.  I  was 
quite  successful  in  uniting  the  family  upon 
this  subject.  I  was  out  of  means,  and  went 
to  Mayor  Armstrong  to  see  if  I  could  get 
employment.  He  told  me  that  the  jailor 
had  just  broken  his  arm,  and  that  I  could 
come  to  work  the  next  morning.  Soon  after 
I  had  commenced  work,  it  seemed  to  me 
at  times  as  though  I  was  in  the  very  pres- 
ence of  father.  I  could  plainly  feel  his 
spirit  working  with  me.  It  became  so 
strong  that  I  could  not  rest  until  we  had 
called  the  representative  members  of  the 
family  together  and  laid  this  subject  be- 
fore them.  At  that  meeting  a  committee  of 
five  was  chosen,  and  we  decided  to  employ 
Bishop  Orson  F.  Whitney  to  write  the  his- 
tory over  again.  He  was  our  father's  grand- 
son ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Tullidge 
had  publicly  declared  himself  to  be  an 

57  E 


Thrilling  Experiences 

apostate.  We  had  a  settlement  with  him, 
and  he  was  allowed  thirteen  hundred  dol- 
lars for  his  work.  He  deeded  the  real  estate 
back  to  us  and  let  Bishop  Whitney  have 
his  manuscript  of  the  history.  The  "boom" 
came  soon  after,  and  we  sold  the  lot  for 
just  eighteen  hundred  dollars  clear  of  ex- 
penses. Those  of  us  who  had  contributed 
the  eighteen  hundred  dollars  nine  years  be- 
fore received  back  the  exact  sum  that  we 
gave,  and  this  put  the  family  on  an  equal 
footing.  Before  I  went  to  Arizona  the  Kim- 
ball  estate  had  been  divided  and  the  ad- 
ministrators discharged.  When  I  returned, 
we  found  four  lots  on  the  hill  tfcat  had  been 
overlooked,  and  which  were  almost  worth- 
less when  I  went  away,  but  now  had  be- 
come valuable.  We  sold  them  for  four  thou- 
sand five  hundred  dollars,  which  was  just 
enough  to  carry  this  enterprise  through. 
This  belonged  to  all  of  us,  and  we  now 
were  all  in  sympathy  with  the  movement. 

The  day  that  the  history  was  to  be 
bound  and  placed  upon  the  market,  one 
of  the  most  wonderful  events  of  my  life  took 
place.  As  I  was  giving  the  prisoners  their 
breakfast,  imagine  my  joy  and  satisfaction 
when  I  heard  the  voice  of  my  deceased 
father  saying  to  me  that  he  had  something 
more  to  go  into  the  history,  and  would  give 

58 


A  Priceless  Reward 

it  to  me  as  a  reward  for  my  faithfulness  in 
helping  to  bring  that  work  forth.  As  soon 
as  I  could  get  the  prisoners  to  work,  I  took 
a  pencil  and  tab,  and  father  told  me  what 
to  write.  Under  his  dictation  I  wrote  for 
about  thirty  minutes,  and  a  minute  or  two 
before  I  had  finished,  several  prisoners  who 
were  doing  janitor  work,  came  into  the 
room,  and  father's  spirit  left.  I  undertook 
to  complete  the  unfinished  part  but  was  un- 
able to  do  so.  Then  I  began  to  feel  uneasy, 
fearing  that  Bishop  Whitney  would  reject 
the  communication.  I  went  into  the  old 
Council  Chamber  and  prayed  to  the  Lord 
to  prepare  his  mind  to  receive  it.  When  he 
came  to  work  that  morning,  I  told  him  that 
I  had  just  received  a  visit  from  father,  and 
he  had  given  me  something  more  to  go  into 
the  history.  I  handed  him  the  communica- 
tion. He  read  it  over  carefully  and  said, 
"That  is  splendid/'  He  completed  the  un- 
finished part,  and  corrected  my  mistakes. 
We  decided  to  say  nothing  about  it,  and 
it  went  into  the  history  in  that  form.  This 
event  was  kept  quiet  until  the  spring  of 
1906,  eighteen  years  later.  At  a  High 
Priests'  meeting,  held  in  the  Brigham 
Young  Memorial  building  at  that  time,  I 
was  called  upon  to  speak.  The  moment  I 
stood  up  it  seemed  to  me  as  though  my 

59 


Thrilling  Experiences 

father  was  standing  by  my  side.  I  was  so 
filled  with  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  that  I  for 
the  first  time  made  this  event  public,  Bishop 
Whitney  being  present  at  the  time. 


60 


REMARKABLE  MANIFESTATIONS 

In   our   temples   four,   we're   doing   more, 

To  save  the  bond  and  make  them  free; 
Than  all  the  millions  with  their  billions, 

Of  men  and  mammon  on  land  and  sea. 
We  unlock  the  door,  that  they  may  soar, 

To  realms  of  glory  up  so  high; 
And  make  them  free  as  they  can  be, 

To  dwell  in  peace  above  the  sky. 
The  Holy  Ghost  with  heavenly  host, 

Comes  down  to  Earth  and  brings  them  cheer? 
They  hover  near  their  friends  so  dear, 

And  whisper  love  to  all  that  hear. 

In  1833,  a  spiritual  wave,  which  reached 
its  zenith  in  1887,  passed  over  Heber  C. 
Kim-ball's  family,  and  seemed  to  stir  all  of 
his  descendants  from  center  to  circumfer- 
ence. This  circumstance  was  a  fulfillment 
of  a  prediction  made  by  my  deceased  father 
to  my  brother,  David  Patten,  in  1881.  In 
writing  of  this  vision  to  our  sister,  Helen, 
David  says :  "He  commenced  by  telling  me 
of  his  association  with  the  Prophet  Joseph, 
President  Young  and  others  in  the  spirit 
world.  He  said  that  there  would  be  a  great 

81 


Thrilling  Experiences 

reformation  in  his  fajmily  within  two 
years." 

In  that  same  year,  viz,  1887,  the  Kimball 
family  held  a  reunion.  On  that  occasion 
there  were  present  not  less  than  three  hun- 
dred members,  besides  many  friends  and 
relatives.  We  could  feel  the  influence  of 
our  father  working  amongst  us,  and  even 
those  who  were  the  most  skeptic,  could  not 
help  but  acknowledge  the  hand  of  some  un- 
seen power  operating  in  our  midst.  This 
was  the  first  family  gathering  that  had  tak- 
en place  since  father's  death,  and  the  results 
were  far-reaching. 

Following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  by 
the  writer  to  his  brother,  Golden,  in  1889: 

"Night  before  last  I  had  a  glorious  vision.  1 
saw  our  father  resurrected.  He  looked  trans- 
parent and  glorious  to  behold.  I  heard  the  most 
beautiful  singing  that  I  ever  listened  to,  by  hun- 
dreds of  immortal  beings.  Many  of  our  family 
and  friends  were  present.  It  is  a  great  comfort 
to  me,  and  I  am  convinced  that  father  will  soon 
be  resurrected.  I  also  saw  our  elder  brothers 
standing  in  the  back  ground,  who  seemed  to  have 
lost  their  places  in  the  family,  while  the  younger 
boys  were  taking  the  lead.  I  went  to  them,  and 
asked  if  they  had  any  objection  to  my  presiding 
over  the  meeting?  They  answered  'No/  and  be- 
ing next  to  them  in  age,  I  took  charge.  After  the 
meeting  was  opened  with  prayer,  I  saw  thou- 
sands of  immortal  beings,  who  made  their  appear- 
ance, and  all  sang  in  one  grand  chorus." 

62 


Remarkable    Manifestations 

Soon  after  beholding  the  vision,  I  was 
sent  for  by  Pres.  Woodruff  and  told  that 
ever  since  the  days  of  the  Prophet  Joseph, 
it  had  been  the  custom  in  the  Church,  when 
ever  any  one  of  the  First  Presidency  died, 
for  the  Presidency  to  bless,  and  set  apart 
the  legal  heir  of  that  family,  to  take  charge 
of  the  temple  work.  He  also  said  that  the 
day  had  gone  by  when  older  members  of 
families  would  stand  in  the  way  of  the 
younger  ones,  and  prevent  them  from  offici- 
ating for  the  dead.  I  was  then  blessed  and 
set  apart  by  President  Woodruff  and  coun- 
selors, to  stand  at  the  head  of  my  father's 
house.  Only  seven  souls  of  our  ancestors 
up  to  this  time  had  been  offciated  for  in 
the  temples. 

The  spiritual  influence  of  Heber  C.  Kim- 
ball  was  not  confined  to  his  own  family 
alone,  but  had  spread  to  Kimballs  outside  of 
the  "Mormon"  faith.  The  same  year,  in 
1887,  when  our  reunion  was  held,  Prof.  A. 
L.  Morrisson  of  Windham,  New  Hampshire, 
whose  mother  was  a  Kimball,  and  Prof. 
S.  P.  Sharpies,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  whose  wife 
was  also  a  Kimball,  both  at  about  the  same 
time  and  unbeknown  to  each  other,  com- 
menced work  on  a  genealogical  record  of 
the  Kimball  family  of  America.  Both  of 
these  expert  genealogists  continued  this  la- 
cs 


Thrilling  Experiences 

bor  for  seven  years  before  they  became  ac- 
quainted with  each  other.  After  that  they 
became  co-workers,  and  co-editors  for  three 
years  more.  After  the  expiration  of  that 
time  they  completed  one  of  the  most  perfect 
genealogical  records  that  had  so  far  been 
published  in  the  United  States.  It  con- 
tained thirteen  hundred  pages,  and  the 
names  of  nearly  fourteen  thousand  of  our 
ancestors.  They  made  the  discovery  that 
all  of  the  Kimballs  of  America  were  de- 
scendants of  two  brothers  who  came  from 
Rattlesden,  Suffolk  county,  England,  to 
America,  in  1634.  They  visited  the  old 
Kimball  homes  in  that  part  of  England,  and 
traced  the  family  record  back  for  five  hun- 
dred years.  The  wealthy  Kimballs  of  the 
United  States  furnished  the  means  to  carry 
this  enterprise  through,  which  amounted  to 
thousands  of  dollars. 

Soon  after  this  voluminous  work  had 
been  published,  Hon.  G.  F.  Kimball,  of  To- 
peka,  Kansas,  commenced  the  publication 
of  the  Kimball  Family  News,  a  monthly 
journal.  Professors  Sharpies  and  Morri- 
son furnished  long  lists  of  genealogical  rec- 
ords for  this  journal,  which  increased  the 
number  of  names  to  upwards  of  fifteen  thou- 
sand. 

Soon  after  we  received     this     immense 

64 


Remarkable    Manifestations 

record,  we  decided  to  hold  a  meeting  at  our 
private  cemetery,  at  the  old  Kimball  Home- 
stead, Main  street,  Salt  Lake  City,  for  the 
purpose  of  organizing  ourselves  into  a  band 
of  temple  workers.  The  time  set  for  this 
gathering,  was  on  our  father's  anniversary, 
June  14,  1897.  Printed  invitations  were 
sent  to  the  family,  and  special  letters  were 
written  to  our  older  brothers,  urging  them 
to  meet  with  us.  They  excused  themselves, 
and  asked  me  to  take  charge. 

Agreeable  to  arrangements,  the  family, 
including  many  relatives  and  friends,  met. 
After  the  meeting  was  called  to  order,  sev- 
eral representative  members  of  the  fam- 
ily spoke  upon  the  subject  of  temple  work, 
and  were  followed  by  President  Joseph  F. 
Smith  and  Bishop  Orson  F.  Whitney.  In- 
spiring music  was  furnished  under  the  di- 
rection of  Horace  G.  Whitney,  and  the 
meeting  was  presided  over  by  the  writer, 
as  was  shown  in  the  vision  eight  years  be- 
fore. 

After  we  had  commenced  our  services,  I 
noticed  an  elderly  gentleman  standing  on 
the  outside,  looking  through  the  cemetery 
fence.  He  had  a  pleasant  smile  upon  his 
countenance,  and  seemed  much  interested 
in  what  was  taking  place.  The  moment  I 
noticed  him,  I  experienced  a  thrill  like  unto 

65 


Thrilling  Experiences 

an  electric  shock,  which  passed  through  my 
whole  being,  and  caused  me  to  leap  for  joy. 
Instantly  I  thought  of  the  Scripture  which 
says:  "Be  not  forgetful  to  entertain  stran- 
gers, for  thereby  some  have  entertained 
angels  unaware."  I  immediately  stepped 
up  to  the  old  gentleman  and  said :  "Come 
inside,  stranger,  you  are  welcome."  He  po- 
litely bowed  his  head ;  walked  around  to  the 
south  side  of  the  cemetery;  passed  through 
the  gate,  and  sat  down  by  my  brother  Da- 
vid, who  presently  came  to  me  enquiring 
who  the  stranger  was.  He  then  told  me 
of  the  heavenly  influence  that  he  experi- 
enced when  the  old  gentleman  sat  down  by 
him.  Several  others  of  the  family  spoke  of 
the  glorious  sensation  that  they  felt,  when 
they  came  in  contact  with  him.  We  could 
find  no  one  who  had  ever  seen  him  before, 
and  none  of  us  seemed  to  know  when  he 
appeared.  His  disappearance  was  just  as 
mysterious  as  his  coming,  which  caused  us 
to  wonder  who  this  personage  could  be. 
Bishop  Joseph  Kimball  thought  that  it  was 
an  angel  who  had  been  sent  to  take  notes 
of  our  meeting,,  while  others  believed  that 
it  was  one  of  the  three  Nephites. 

Some  days  after  this  meeting  we  com- 
menced our  work  for  the  dead  in  earnest. 
Within  seven  years  we  were  baptized  for 

66 


Remarkable    Manifestations 

eleven  thousand  of  our  ancestors;  endowed 
for  all  of  the  women,  and  upwards  of  a 
thousand  men.  The  heavenly  influence  that 
we  experienced  during  that  time,  can  only 
be  understood  and  appreciated  by  those  who 
have  passed  through  a  similar  experience. 

Just  previous  to  President  Snow's  death, 
I  had  a  long  talk  with  him  upon  this  sub- 
ject. He  left  the  impression  with  me  that 
he  was  in  communication  with  my  father, 
and  told  me  that  father  was  around  the 
temples,  taking  a  great  interest  in  the  work 
for  his  kindred  dead.  He  further  said,  that 
if  my  father's  sons  would  become  united, 
and  humble  themselves  before  the  Lord, 
that  father  would  meet,  and  counsel  with  us 
just  the  same  as  he  did  when  he  was 
alive. 

Considering  all  the  circumstances  con- 
nected with  this  subject,  I  cannot  help  but 
believe  that  my  father  was  resurrected  the 
day  that  we  held  our  cemetery  meeting. 


67 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  DUSKIES 

Driven  to   the  wilderness. 

Twelve  hundred  miles  from  home, 
Into   a   dreary  desert  land 

Where  red -men  used  to  roam. 
Destitute   of   everything 

And  not  a  friend  on  earth, 
Except  their  Heavenly   Parents, 

Who  gave  to  them  their  birth. 
Surrounded   by   the    "duskies," 

'Mid  fierce  and  savage  beast, 
Who  came  in  swarms  around  them 

As  though  to  have  a  feast. 
But  when  they  sensed  condition* 

They  sadly  walked  away, 
As  if  to  say,  "God  pity  you, 

We'll  call  some  other  day! 

The  first  winter  spent  by  the  pioneers 
in  Salt  Lake  Valley  was  a  quiet  one.  The 
surrounding  tribes  of  Indians  were  on  their 
good  behavior,  as  far  as  the  new  comers 
were  concerned,  although  at  war  with  each 
other.  The  victorious  parties  during  such 
wars  scalped  all  the  warriors  whom  thej 
captured  or  killed.  Their  custom  was  to 

68 


Rocky   Mountain  Duskies 

hang  these  scalps  to  their  scalp-poles,  which 
they  took  great  pride  in  exhibiting.  The 
brave  that  could  show  the  greatest  number 
was  considered  the  greatest  Indian  of  them 
all. 

The  young  women  and  children  were 
held  as  slaves,  and  sometimes  treated  in 
the  most  cruel  manner.  The  red  men  were 
not  long  in  learning  that  the  Saints  were  a 
tender-hearted  people,  and  could  not  wit- 
ness such  scenes  without  sympathizing  to 
the  uttermost  with  those  who  were  being 
tortured.  Among  the  first  accounts  given 
by  the  pioneers  of  this  barbaric  treatment 
is  one  found  in  Mary  Ellen  Kimball's  jour- 
nal of  1847,  of  which  the  following  is  a  brief 
extract : 

There  were  a  number  of  Indians  camped  near 
the  hot  springs,  north  of  the  fort.  They  had  with 
them  a  little  girl  that  had  been  captured  from 
another  tribe.  They  offered  to  trade  her  for  a 
rifle.  Fire  arms  were  scarce  with  the  pioneers; 
besides  it  was  not  good  policy  to  arm  these  cruel 
savages  who  might  at  any  time  turn  on  those  who 
had  armed  them.  The  Indians  finally  began  to 
torture  the  little  one,  at  the  same  time  declaring 
they  would  kill  her  unless  the  rifle  was  forth- 
coming. One  of  our  pioneer  boys,  Charles 
Decker,  whose  heart  was  wrung  by  witnessing 
such  cruelty,  very  reluctantly  parted  with  his 
only  gun.  He  took  the  little  girl  home,  and 
gave  her  to  his  sister,  Clara  D.  Young. 


Thrilling  Experiences 

They  named  her  Sally,  and  she  lived  in 
the  family  of  President  Brigham  Young  un- 
til she  had  grown  to  womanhood.     After- 
wards  she  married  a    noble    and    friendly 
Pauvante  chief  named  Kanosh.     She  made 
him   a  good   wife,   and   did   much   towards 
civilizing  him.      He   joined   the   "Mormon" 
Church  and  died  a  faithful  Latter-day  Saint. 
That  winter  several  other  pappooses  were 
purchased  under  similar  circumstances.  The 
Indians  lost  no  time  in  circulating  the  news ; 
consequently  the  market  was  soon  over-run 
with   captive   children.     The   redskins   con- 
tinued to  torture  them  in  the  presence  of 
the  Saints,  and  to  put  a  stop  to  this  un- 
necessary cruelty  the  pioneers  made  great 
sacrifices,  in  order  to  purchase  these  inno- 
cent sufferers.     Enoch  Reese  bought  three, 
President   Woodruff,   three.     The    Kimball 
family  rescued  three  by  purchase.     In  fact, 
all  leading  families  that  could  possibly  spare 
the  means  traded  for  one  or  more.    Once  in 
a  while  the  big-hearted  merchant,  Thomas 
S.  Williams,  would  load  a  pack  train  with 
Indian  trinkets,  which  he  traded  to  the  dif- 
ferent tribes  for  captive  pappooses.     For  a 
reasonable  amount  he  sold  them  to  the  set- 
tlers.    He  presented  to  Ms  daughter,  Mrs. 
Diavid  P.  Kimball,  a  handsome  little  girl  by 
the  name  of  Viroque.     She  became  a  first- 


Rocky   Mountain   Dusktes 

class  housekeeper,  and,  when  grown,  mar- 
ried a  much  respected  white  man,  and  had 
one  child  by  him.  She  was  of  the  Piede 
tribe,  located  south  of  the  Colorado  river. 
William  H.  Kimball  traded  a  horse  for  a  lit- 
tle boy  he  named  Dave.  A  year  or  two  later, 
the  child's  mother,  while  passing  through 
Salt  Lake,  happened  to  discover  her  long- 
lost  child.  She  was  so  overjoyed  at  finding 
him  that  William's  heart  was  touched,  and 
he  let  her  have  her  darling  boy.  In  later 
years  the  lad  became  prominent  among  the 
people  of  his  tribe  and  was  the  means  of 
saving  Mr.  Kimball's  life,  while  the  latter 
was  out  in  the  mountains  surrounded  by 
hostile  Indians.  Dave  finally  became  chief 
of  his  tribe,  and  is  now  living  on  the  Indian 
farm  in  Skull  Valley.  He  still  goes  by  the 
name  of  Dave  Kimball,  and  never  fails  to 
visit  the  older  members  of  the  Kimball  fam- 
ily when  he  comes  to  Salt  Lake. 

The  following  is  from  President  Brigham 
Young's  journal,  which  goes  to  show  how 
little  regard  the  red  men  had  for  their 
slaves : 

The  Utah  Indian  Chief  Walker  died  at  Meadow 
Creek,  Janury  29,  1855,  of  lung  fever.  His  brother, 
Arrowpene.  was  made  chief.  When  Walker  was 
very  sick  he  told  his  band  to  kill  Pa-Utes  and 
horses,  thinking  that  would  alleviate  his  suffer- 
ing, but  when  he  had  killed  two  Pa-Ute  children, 

71 


ThHlling  Experiences 

he  was  not  relieved.  When  nearly  dead  he  told 
his  people  not  to  kill  any  horses  or  Pa-Utes  at 
his  death.  After  ten  days  illness,  he  died,  and  the 
Indians  killed  two  Pa-Ute  squaws,  three  children, 
a  boy  of  twenty,  and  twenty  horses. 

Walker's  warriors  built  a  stone  wall 
around  his  grave,  and  put  two  pappooses 
inside  of  the  inclosure  to  be  servants  to  the 
deceased  chief  after  he  had  reached  the 
happy  hunting  ground.  The  settlers  in  that 
neighborhood  could  hear  the  children  cry- 
ing and  moaning  day  and  night  until  they 
died  for  want  of  food  and  water.  They 
dared  not  go  near  the  place,  as  such  a  move 
would  probably  have  brought  death  to  them 
all.  The  traffic  in  pappooses  was  kept  up 
for  a  number  of  years.  The  Latter-day 
Saints  finally  convinced  the  Indians  that 
the  Great  Spirit  was  displeased  with  them, 
on  account  of  this  cruel  treatment  to  their 
captives,  and  the  custom  gradually  died  out. 

Civilization  was  hard  on  these  purchased 
children,  and  most  of  them  died  young,  al- 
though a  number,  mostly  males,  are  still 
living.  The  females  made  good  housekeep- 
ers, and  the  males  were  quite  industrious; 
doing  their  share  of  outside  work.  After 
they  became  civilized  they  naturally  de- 
spised their  own  people.  Most  of  them  were 
honest  and  virtuous,  but  the  boys  loved  "fire 
water." 

72 


Rocky   Mountain   Duskies 

For  several  years  after  the  pioneers  ar- 
rived in  the  valley,  the  Indians  camped  on 
the  hill  just  back  of  W.  S.  McCornick's 
residence.  When  any  one  of  their  number 
died,  they  made  the  nights  hideous  with 
their  yells,  moans  and  groans.  They  hacked 
their  limbs  with  knives  and  sharp  rocks,  tor- 
turing themselves  in  various  ways.  Their 
principal  burying  ground,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Salt  Lake,  was  just  north  and  west 
of  where  the  Lafayette  school  house  is  now 
located.  Hundreds  of  skeletons  were  un- 
earthed in  that  vicinity  by  the  citizens,  who 
reburied  them  in  a  more  suitable  place.  The 
Indians  were  very  impudent,  and  stole  al- 
most everything  they  could  lay  their  hands 
on,  even  packing  off  stray  children,  once  in 
a  while.  The  new  comers  had  to  use  a  great 
deal  of  wisdom  and  patience  to  prevent  the 
Indians  from  going  on  the  war  path.  The 
authorities  were  continually  warning  the 
Saints  against  doing  anything  that  would 
cause  a  rupture. 

Those  were  days  of  trials  and  treaties. 
These  treaties  were  made  in  different  parts 
of  the  territory,  but  most  generally  in  Salt 
Lake  City.  When  the  chiefs  came  to  the 
latter  place,  for  that  purpose,  they  gener- 
ally camped  on  the  16th  ward  square.  Some- 
times, during  the  early  fifties,  they  camped 

73  F 


Thrilling  Experiences 

on  the  vacant  lot  west  of  where  the  Gardo 
House  stands.  Dimick  B.  Huntington  near- 
ly always  acted  as  interpreter,  as  he  spoke 
the  Indian  language  fluently,  and  was  well 
liked  by  the  red  men.  His  house  was  gen- 
erally crowded  with  Indians  from  one  year's 
end  to  another.  Those  were  busy  and  try- 
ing times  for  Uncle  Dimick.  The  settlers 
had  more  trouble  with  the  Utes,  under  Chief 
Walker,  than  with  any  other  tribe.  He  was 
a  terror  to  the  Indians  as  well  as  the  whites, 
and  was  always  fomenting  trouble.  The  fol- 
lowing note  from  President  Young  to  Chief 
Walker  shows  how  honorable  and  patient 
the  authorities  were  with  this  blood-thirsty 
savage,  as  well  as  with  other  rebellious 
chiefs : 

Great  Salt  Lake  City,  July  25,  1853. 
Captain  Walker: — I  send  you  some  tobacco  for 
you  to  smoke  in  the  mountains  when  you  get 
lonesome.  You  are  a  fool  for  fighting  your  best 
friends  and  only  friends  that  you  have  in  the 
world.  Everybody  else  would  kill  you  if  they 
could  get  a  chance.  If  you  get  hungry  send  some 
friendly  Indians  down  to  the  settlements  and  we 
will  give  you  some  beef-cattle  and  flour.  If  you 
are  afraid  of  the  tobacco  which  I  send  you,  you 
can  let  some  of  your  prisoners  try  it  first  and 
then  you  will  know  that  it  is  good.  When  you 
get  good  natured  again  I  would  like  to  see  you. 
Don't  you  think  you  would  be  'ashamed?  You 
know  that  I  have  always  been  your  friend. 

BRIGHAM   YOUNG. 

74 


Rocky   Mountain  Duskies 

Many  times  our  pioneer  boys  have  taken 
their  lives  in  their  own  hands  while  carrying 
messages  into  the  stronghold  of  hostile  In- 
dians. There  were  many  honest  and  noble 
chiefs  among  the  surrounding  tribes.  Among 
them  were  Washakie,  chief  of  the  Sho- 
shones;  Souiette,  king  of  the  Utah  nation; 
and  Kanosh,  chief  of  the  Pauvantes.  It  was 
no  unusual  sight,  in  those  days,  to  see 
Brigham  Young,  Heber  C.  Kimball,  and 
other  leading  men,  sitting  around  in  a  circle 
with  twelve  or  fifteen  chiefs,  smoking  the 
pipe  of  peace.  While  the  smoking  was  going 
on  they  crossed  their  legs,  Indian  fashion, 
as  they  sat  on  the  grass.  Hours  would  first 
be  spent  in  going  over  in  detail  all  impor- 
tant matters  pertaining  to  their  troubles. 
When  they  arrived  at  an  understanding,  an 
old-fashioned  clay-pipe  was  brought  forth 
and  filled  with  tobacco.  The  smoking  would 
then  commence  in  earnest.  The  pipe  was 
passed  from  one  to  another,  and  each  one  in 
his  turn  took  several  good  whiffs.  Before  it 
had  gotten  around,  they  would  have  to  re- 
fill it  several  times,  as  some  of  the  red-skins 
would  keep  it  until  they  were  almost  lost  in 
smoke.  After  the  council  of  peace  was  dis- 
solved, the  gathering  always  wound  up  with 
a  big  feast,  which  frequently  took  place  on 
the  16th  ward  square,  in  front  of  Uncle  Dim- 


75 


Thrilling  Experiences 

ick's  residence.  A  couple  of  beef  steers  were 
generally  killed  for  the  occasion,  cut  into 
chunks,  and  put  into  two  or  three  large  ket- 
tles. After  the  meat  had  been  boiled,  a  cou- 
ple of  wagon  loads  of  bread,  vegetables,  and 
other  eatables,  were  dumped  out  on  to  the 
grass.  Then  the  pow-wow  commenced.  All 
the  male  Indians  for  miles  around  came  to- 
gether, and  the  feast  lasted  as  long  as  any 
food  remained.  The  chiefs  then  returned  to 
their  wigwam  homes,  with  a  broad  smile  on 
their  faces  that  made  the  onlookers  rejoice. 
The  authorities  would  then  send  to  the  In- 
dians' headquarters  several  beef  cattle,  some 
loads  of  flour,  tobacco,  calico,  and  trinkets 
of  various  kinds.  Peace  then  reigned  su- 
preme, as  far  as  that  tribe  was  concerned,  un- 
til they  ran  out  of  supplies.  The  war  whoop 
came  next,  then  another  treaty,  pipe  of 
peace,  big  feast,  more  supplies,  broad  smiles, 
and  so  it  continued  from  year  to  year. 

The  events  witnessed  by  the  pioneers, 
during  the  early  years  after  entering  these 
valleys,  became  so  commonplace  that  they 
caused  little  comment,  consequently  no  writ- 
ten record  of  them  was  kept.  The  art  of 
photography  was  in  its  infancy,  hence  only  a 
few  pictures  of  these  early-day  scenes  were 
taken.  Doubtless  it  will  be  interesting  to  the 
readers  to  learn  more  about  the  customs  and 

76 


Rocky   Mountain  Duskies 

habits  of  the  Indians  at  the  time  civilization 
first  broke  in  upon  their  wild  lives  and  sur- 
roundings. 

The  Indian  wigwams  were  curious-look- 
ing habitations.  They  were  constructed  of 
tent  poles  covered  with  skins  of  wild  ani- 
mals, and  sewed  together  with  thread  made 
of  sinew.  Sharpened  bones  and  other  instru- 
ments served  the  purpose  of  needles.  The 
Indians  called  their  tents  "wickiups."  Their 
clothing  was  made  from  the  skins  of  wild 
animals,  and  beautifully  tanned.  The  poorer 
among  them  dressed  in  clothing  made  from 
rabbit  skins,  with  the  hair  side  out.  Their 
bedding  was  made  of  nicely  dressed  skins 
of  buffalo,  bear  and  other  wild  animals. 
Their  food  consisted  largely  of  the  jerked 
meat  of  big  game,  such  as  buffalo,  bear,  elk 
and  deer.  They  generally  caught  fish  with 
seines  and  traps  made  from  woven  willows, 
but  sometimes  they  shot  them  with  bows 
and  arrows.  When  the  berries  were  ripe 
great  quantities  were  gathered,  dried  and 
cached  in  dry  places  for  winter  use.  Wild 
artichokes,  segoes  and  other  palatable  roots, 
that  grew  in  great  abundance  in  the  valleys 
and  on  the  hillsides,  were  dug  and  used  as 
food.  Great  quantities  of  pine  nuts  were 
gathered.  What  the  early  settlers  termed 
a  cricket  and  grass-hopper  famine,  the  In- 

77 


Thtilling  Experiences 

dians  could  well  call  a  cricket  and  grass- 
hopper feast.  When  these  hopping  and  fly- 
ing insects  passed  over  the  land,  many  tons 
were  gathered,  dried  or  roasted  by  a  slow 
fire,  and  then  ground  into  meal.  The  hot 
cakes  made  from  this  meal  at  first  sight 
looked  quite  savory  to  the  new  comers,  but 
the  feeling  was  dispelled  when  the  wings 
and  legs  of  the  grasshoppers  were  discov- 
ered in  the  delicious  temptation. 

Bows  and  arrows  were  the  Indians5  prin- 
cipal weapons,  the  former  being  sometimes 
made  from  split  mountain-sheep  horn,  scien- 
tifically constructed  and  neatly  bound  with 
sinew.  The  arrows  were  made  of  grease- 
wood,  or  other  hard  wood,  with  sharp  flints 
at  one  end,  and  three  split  feathers  at  the 
other,  both  ends  securely  fastened  with 
sinew.  The  male  Indians,  from  the  gray- 
haired  veteran  to  the  small  boy,  each  had 
a  bow  and  quiver  of  arrows  slung  over 
the  shoulder  and  hung  to  the  back.  The 
warriors  could  shoot  with  these  almost  as 
effectually  as  the  ordinary  man  can  with  a 
gun.  The  younger  generation  of  pioneer 
boys  took  great  pride  in  fashioning  after 
the  Indians  in  this  respect,  and  in  some 
cases  learned  to  outdo  them  at  their  own 
game.  During  the  summer  season  it  was 
no  unusual  sight  to  see  a  crowd  of  boys 

78 


Rocky   Mountain  Dusfcics 

dressed  in  buckskin  pants  and  moccasins, 
shooting  at  a  mark  with  bows  and  arrows. 
Many  of  them  became  experts  at  this  sport. 
In  those  days  Livingston,  Bell  &  Company's 
store  was  the  business  part  of  town.  It  was 
located  where  the  Constitution  Building 
now  stands.  The  clerks  and  sports  took 
great  pleasure  in  watching  the  Indians  and 
white  boys  shoot  at  ten-cent  pieces.  The 
person  who  could  hit  a  dime  twenty  paces 
away,  won  the  prize.  There  was  much  in- 
terest manifested  by  all  concerned,  and 
quite  a  rivalry  existed  between  the  Indians 
and  the  boys.  The  Indians  were  very  much 
humiliated  to  see  Oliver  Buell  carrying 
away  more  dimes  than  any  other  one  of  the 
contesting  parties. 

The  pioneers  learned  many  valuable  les- 
sons in  economy  from  the  Indians.  When 
the  service-berries,  choke-cherries  and  other 
wild  fruits  were  ripe,  many  families  went 
into  the  mountains,  spending  several  days 
at  a  time,  gathering  berries.  These  were 
dried  and  put  away  for  future  use.  The 
common  garden  currants  were  also  dried 
and  mixed  with  service-berries.  When 
stewed,  these  made  a  splendid  sauce.  The 
service-berries  being  sweet,  supplied  the 
place  of  sugar — a  costly  luxury,  which  sold 
at  one  dollar  a  pound. 


Thrilling  Experiences 

The  new  settlers  learned  the  value  of 
jerked  buffalo  meat.  So,  during  the  sum- 
mer months,  when  times  and  circumstances 
permitted,  they  went  out  on  the  plains  in 
parties  to  hunt  the  buffalo.  Many  of  our 
brethren  wore  full  suits  of  buckskin  cloth- 
ing. These  suits  became  quite  fashionable, 
and  lasted  for  years.  There  were  neither 
rich  nor  poor  in  those  days ;  everybody 
knew  everybody  else,  and  though  hard 
times  knocked  at  many  a  door,  the  people 
were  happy  and  contented. 

Music  was  a  rarity,  although  Uncle  Dim- 
ick  Huntington  made  lively  melody  with 
his  martial  band.  On  many  an  evening  one 
could  hear  the  boys  practicing  on  the  drums 
and  fifes.  The  drums  were  made  by  Uncle 
Dimick.  On  the  Fourth  and  Twenty- 
Fourth  of  July  the  people  of  Salt  Lake 
were  treated  to  lively  music.  About  fifty 
wide-awake  young  patriots  belonged  to  the 
band.  When  they  played  "Yankee  Doodle" 
and  "The  Girl  I  Left  Behind  Me,"  the 
horses  that  were  near  by  commenced,  figu- 
ratively speaking,  to  walk  off  on  their  hind 
legs,  and  look  for  a  place  to  jump  off.  There 
was,  besides,  a  good  brass  band  in  town, 
but  it  was  a  tame  affair  compared  to  the 
drum  and  fife  company. 

Everybody  was  honest  in     those    days, 


Rocky    Mountain   Dusfcies 

speaking  in  a  general  way,  and  one  could 
leave  the  doors  of  his  house  unlocked,  and 
be  gone  from  home  a  month  or  two  at  a 
time,  and  return  to  find  everything  just  as 
it  had  been  left. 


81 


OUR  PIONEER  BOYS 

In  early  days  the  Lord  did  raise 

Brave  "Mormon"  boys  to  blaze  the  way; 

To  make  the  bridge,  to  clear  the  ridge, 
To  hold  the  savage  beast  at  bay. 

They  broke  the  grounds  and  built  new  towns; 

They  eyed  the  lurking  red-skin  thief, 
O'er  Indian  trails  they  packed  the  mails, 

And  fared  on  bear  and  buffalo   beef. 

Rough  and  ready,  tought  but  steady, 
Like  pure  diamonds  in  the  rough, 

They  rescued  lives  from  scalping  knives, 
And  chased  the  red  men  o'er  the  bluff. 

O'er  the  plains  they  guarded  trains, 

Helping  travelers  on  their  'way, 
Through  dust  and  heat,  with  blistered  feet. 

They  never  lagged  or  lost  a  day. 

These  heroes  went,  on  missions  sent, 
To  rescue  pilgrims  that  were  late; 

With  heavy  loads,  they  "broke"  the  roads, 
From  Salt  Lake  down  to  Devil's  Gate. 

Met  starving  Saints,   with  travel  faint, 
Pulling  hand- carts  through  the  snow, 

All  through  November  and  December; 
These  were  dreadful  days  of  woe. 

Through  drifting  snow,  these  boys  would  go 
With  freezing  pilgrims  on  their  backs, 

Through   rivers   deep,   through   slush   and   sleet: 
And  o'er  the  hills,  they  "broke"  the  .tracks. 

82 


Our  Pioneer  Boys 

They  climbed  the  heights,  then  sat  tip  nights 
Nursing  the  sick  and  burying  dead; 

Their  hearts  would  bleed  when  they  would  feed 
Poor,  helpless  children  without  bread. 

With  dauntless  will  they  fought  on   still, 
Saving  the  lives  of  all  they  could; 

Though  they  could  feel  their  strength  of  steel 
Waning   for   want    of   needed    food. 

Great  efforts  made  brought  jample  aid 

From  comrades   bringing  new  supplies: 

The  strong  did  leap,  for  joy  did  weep, 

And  manly  tears  flowed  from  their  eyes. 

Our  "minute  men"   have  always  been 
On   hand   to   answer  every   call; 

They  always  went  wherever  sent, 

In  winter,   summer,   spring  or  fall. 

Paving  the  way  for  a  better  day, 

Most  Of  the  boys  have  passed  away; 

Their  work  well  done,   their  victory  won, 
They've  gone  to  dwell  in  peace  alway. 

There  are  left  a  few  who're  just  as  true 

As  the  veterans  who  have  passed  away; 

Let's  give  them  cheer  while  they  are  here. 
And  praise  the  heroes  while  we  may. 

Soon  after  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints  was  organized,  it 
seemed  like  all  the  evil  powers  of  earth 
and  hell  combined  had  arrayed  themselves 
against  the  people.  For  sixteen  years  this 
cruel  warfare  was  kept  up.  They  were  driv- 
en from  county  to  county  and  from  state 


Thrilling  Experiences 

to  state,  until  they  were  utterly  stripped  of 
all  earthly  possessions.  Even  then,  they 
were  not  allowed  to  rest  until  they  had 
been  driven  into  the  wilderness,  some  twelve 
hundred  miles  from  civilization,  and  there 
left  in  the  midst  of  cruel  savages  and  wild 
beasts,  with  starvation  staring  them  in  the 
face. 

Most  of  our  pioneer  boys  were  born 
while  their  grief-stricken  parents  were 
passing  through  these  terrible  hardships. 
These  little  fellows  naturally  partook  of  the 
spirit  with  which  they  were  surrounded, 
and  this  undoubtedly  went  far  towards 
qualifying  them  for  the  hard  and  trying 
missions  they  were  destined  to  fulfill  later 
on.  The  majority  of  them  were  descend- 
ants of  our  pilgrim  fathers,  and  their  grand- 
sires  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the 
brave  patriots  who  made  this  the  most  glor- 
ious nation  on  earth. 

Considering  these  circumstances,  how 
could  these  boys  be  anything  else  than 
brave?  After  they  had  grown  to  manhood, 
they  feared  nothing;  and  the  Indians,  when 
doing  wrong,  were  in  constant  dread  of 
them.  They  were  large,  well-built,  fine- 
looking  men,  and  made  a  splendid  appear- 
ance when  dressed  in  their  military  suits  of 
navy  blue,  and  when  mounted  on  their 

84 


Out  Pioneer  Boys 

beautiful  horses.  They  were  expert  horse- 
men, and  almost  lived  in  their  saddles.  They 
were  first-class  marksmen,  and  always 
kept  their  powder  dry  and  firearms  in  good 
condition.  These  young  heroes,  called 
"Minute  Men,"  were  organized  into  com- 
panies of  sixty  and  were  very  much  in  evi- 
dence throughout  this  whole  Rocky  Moun- 
tain region,  from  1847  to  1868. 

Walker  was  the  first  chief  to  declare 
war  against  the  pioneers.  The  first  skir- 
mish took  place  during  the  spring  of  1849, 
in  Battle  Creek  canyon,  just  southeast  of 
Pleasant  Grove.  Chief  Kone,  called  "Ro- 
man Nose/1  led  the  fight.  Our  boys 
soon  routed  them,  killing  five  of  Walker's 
Indians,  and  wounding  several  others. 

For  the  next  eighteen  years  our  boys 
had  plenty  to  do.  First  one  tribe,  and  then 
another  became  hostile.  Those  were  days 
that  tried  the  souls  of  mien.  There  were 
two  powerful  tribes  in  the  north,  Bannocks 
and  Shoshones.  On  the  east,  south  and 
west,  the  Utes,  Pa-Utes,  Gosh  Utes,  Weber 
Utes  and  Pawantes,  besides  several  other 
tribes. 

When  emigration  from  the  old  countries 
began  to  pour  into  Utah,  the  burden  of  pio- 
neer life  commenced  to  weigh  heavily  upon 
our  pioneer  boys'  shoulders.  New  settle- 

85 


Thrilling  Experiences 

ments  had  to  be  built,  roads  and  bridges 
made,  hostile  Indians  subdued,  and  the  wild 
beasts  looked  after.  These  responsibilities, 
with  many  others  just  as  important,  kept 
them  moving  almost  continuously. 

The  mails  were  received  from  the  east 
several  times  a  year,  and  their  infrequency 
almost  made  it  appear  to  the  pioneers  that 
they  were  living  in  another  world.  Fera- 
morz  Little,  Eph.  Hanks,  and  Charley 
Decker,  three  of  the  bravest  of  pioneer 
boys,  occasionally  loaded  several  pack  ani- 
mals with  mail,  and  took  it  to  Laramie, 
where  other  mail  carriers  from  the  Missouri 
river  met  them.  Here  they  exchanged 
mails,  and  then  returned  to  their  homes  in 
the  mountains.  It  required  from  forty  to 
fifty  days  to  make  the  rounds.  On  one  oc- 
casion Eph.  and  Charley  were  caught  in  a 
fearful  snowstorm,  which  blockaded  their 
way  for  twelve  days.  They  managed  to 
get  into  a  cave  with  their  animals,  where 
they  safely  remained  during  that  time.  It 
took  ninety  days  to  make  that  trip. 

On  another  occasion  their  provisions 
gave  out,  and  as  their  ammunition  had  be- 
come wet,  they  were  unable  to  shoot  game. 
There  were  plenty  of  fat  buffalo  near  by, 
however,  and  they  were  determined  to  have 
some  fresh  meat,  even  though  to  obtain  it 


Our  Pioneer   Boys 

they  must  engage  in  hazardous  adventure. 
Eph.,  possessing  a  good  horse  and  being  a 
born  athlete,  chased  after  a  big,  fat  buffalo, 
ran  his  horse  close  to  its  side,  then  with 
both  hands  grabbed  its  mane,  jumped 
astride,  and  while  the  animal  was  running 
at  full  speed,  Eph.,  with  all  his  might  drove 
his  long  knife  into  the  buffalo's  heart.  This 
thrilling  episode  over,  they  jerked  the  meat 
and  continued  their  journey  as  if  nothing 
unusual  had  occurred.  They  were  always 
found  in  the  front  ranks  facing  any  danger 
that  threatened  the  Latter-day  Saints.  Dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1850,  we  found  them  in 
company  with  about  one  hundred  of  their 
comrades  fighting  hostile  Indians  on  the 
banks  of  the  Provo  river.  The  redskins 
were  strongly  entrenched  behind  a  breast- 
work of  cottonwood  trees,  and  in  possession 
of  a  double  log  house  which  stood  near 
by.  They  were  well  armed  and  made  a 
stubborn  fight.  Little  headway  was  made 
by  the  boys  the  first  day.  The  snow  was 
deep  and  crusted,  giving  the  savages  every 
advantage.  Captain  Geo.  D.  Grant  soon 
discovered  that  nothing  could  be  accomp- 
lished until  the  red-skins  were  routed  from 
their  stronghold,  which  seemed  impregna- 
ble; so  he  made  up  his  mind  to  capture  the 
house  at  all  hazards.  He,  therefore,  ordered 

87 


Thrilling  Experiences 

Lieutenant  William  H.  Kimball  to  select 
fifteen  men,  charge  upon  the  house,  and 
take  possession.  Among  the  heroes  chosen, 
were  Eph.  Hanks,  Lot  Smith,  Robert  T. 
Burton,  Orson  K.  Whitney,  James  Fergu- 
son, John  R.  Murdock,  A.  J.  Pendleton, 
Barney  Ward,  Henry  Johnson,  Isham  Flyn, 
and  five  others  whose  names  are  unknown. 
They  were  mounted  on  good  horses,  and 
soon  after  the  word  was  given  to  charge 
they  were  in  possession  of  the  double  log 
house.  When  the  savages  saw  them  coming 
they  scampered  away  in  double  quick  time, 
after  deliberately  emptying  their  guns  at 
the  approaching  enemy.  The  shower  of 
cold  lead  from  the  red-skins'  guns  flew 
around  the  boys  thick  and  fast.  Nearly  ev- 
ery one  of  their  horses  was  killed.  The 
men's  clothing  was  riddled  and  torn  with 
bullets.  Several  of  the  boys  were  wounded 
before  they  reached  the  house.  That  night 
the  savages  retreated  in  two  different  di- 
rections, leaving  their  dead  and  wounded 
behind.  The  next  morning  the  minute  men 
followed  the  Indians.  They  were  overtak- 
en, and  another  battle  ensued.  Upwards  of 
fifty  redskin  warriors  were  killed  during 
the  three  days'  fight;  the  balance  of  their 
number  escaped.  Chief  Big  Elk,  one  of 
Chief  Walker's  leading  generals  in  COm- 


Ottf  Pioneef  Boys 

mand,  afterwards  died  from  the  effects  of 
wounds  received  during  the  second  day's 
engagement.  Our  boys  lost  only  one  man, 
Joseph  Higbee,  who  was  killed  the  first  day. 

The  Goshutes,  of  Tooele  county,  had  for 
several  years  been  killing  the  settlers,  driv- 
ing off  stock  and  committing  all  kinds  of 
depredations.  Their  headquarters  was  lo- 
cated in  Skull  Valley;  but  when  the  Indians 
were  in  mischief  they  hid  in  the  Cedar 
Mountains,  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles 
farther  west. 

During  the  summer  of  1851,  a  company 
of  minute  men  volunteered  to  enter  the 
stronghold  of  these  bloodthirsty  savages, 
and  administer  to  them  a  lesson  which  it 
was  believed  they  would  never  forget.  The 
boys  were  not  long  in  finding  them.  Early 
one  morning  they  charged  into  their  hiding 
place  and  annihilated  nearly  every  warrior 
in  the  camp.  They  found  tons  of  jerked 
beef  prepared  from  stolen  cattle. 

The  boys  were  so  busy  during  those  trou- 
blous times  that  they  found  no  time  to  keep 
a  record  of  the  number  of  Indians  killed  nor 
even  the  names  of  their  comrades  who  par- 
ticipated in  these  battles.  Among  those 
who  accompanied  this  expedition  were  Geo. 
D.  Grant,  Wm.  H.  Kimball,  Robert  T.  Bur- 
ton, Rodney  Badger,  Nathaniel  V.  Jones, 


Thrilling  Experiences 

Wm.  McBride,  James  M.  Barlow,  John 
Wakely,  Charles  Westover,  and  Jesse  Ter- 
pin.  There  were  many  friendly  Goshutes 
who  took  no  part  in  plundering  the  new- 
comers, and  who  were  living  in  Skull  Val- 
ley when  this  trouble  occurred.  The  author- 
ities were  continually  pleading  with  the  In- 
dians to  cease  from  their  murderous  and 
thievish  work.  They  held  out  to  them  a 
blessing  in  one  hand  or  a  whip  in  the  other. 
With  all  the  advantages  the  Indians  pos- 
sessed in  the  three  battles  during  1849-50 
and  51,  in  which  so  many  Indians  were 
killed,  it  is  remarkable  that  our  brave  "Mor- 
mon" boys  lost  but  one  man.  The  savages 
undoubtedly  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
minute  men  were  guarded  by  an  unseen 
power,  as  it  was  almost  impossible  for  the 
Indians  to  shoot  straight  enough  to  hit 
them,  though  they  had  no  difficulty  in  kill- 
ing their  horses.  After  these  conflicts  the 
red-skins  were  afraid  to  fight  the  boys  in 
the  open,  and  therefore,  after  committing 
their  depredations,  they  always  made  a 
break  for  the  mountains.  What  fighting 
they  then  did  was  from  ambush,  which 
method  presented  a  difficult  problem  to  the 
whites.  The  minute  men  were  then  com- 
pelled to  adopt  a  new  system  of  fighting 
which  they  learned  by  continually  braving 

90 


Our  Pioneer  Boys 

the  terrible  dangers  that  threatened  them 
on  all  sides. 

The  Indians  were  great  strategists,  and 
were  always  lurking  around  watching  for 
an  opportunity  to  take  advantage  of  those 
who  lived  in  the  border  settlements.  They 
first  attacked  towns  of  less  importance,  so 
as  to  draw  the  boys  in  that  direction.  Then 
made  raids  on  settlements  of  greater  im- 
portance, killing  men,  women  and  children, 
and  driving  off  large  herds  of  stock.  As 
soon  as  the  authorities  were  made  acquaint- 
ed with  these  facts,  they  would  dispatch  a 
company  or  two  of  these  "minute  men"  to 
their  rescue.  When  the  boys  reached  these 
settlements,  they  gathered  the  stock  that  the 
Indians  had  left,  and  moved  the  settlers  to 
the  larger  settlements  where  they  could  re- 
ceive proper  care. 

Before  starting  on  long  and  hazardous 
expeditions,  their  mothers  and  sisters  baked 
for  them  plenty  of  hardtack.  While  this 
work  was  going  on,  the  boys  would  kill  a 
beef  steer,  or,  in  some  instances,  a  family's 
last  milch  cow,  cut  the  meat  into  thin  slices, 
dip  them  into  brine,  and  hang  them  in  the 
sun  to  dry.  This  they  called  jerked  beef. 
They  filled  their  sacks  with  this  dried  meat, 
and  hardtack,  and  this  generally  constituted 
their  bill  of  fare  until  they  returned.  Their 

91 


Thrilling  Experiences 

loving  parents,  who  were  old,  bent  and  gray, 
from  the  hardships  which  they  had  passed 
through,  would  then  place  their  trembling 
hands  upon  the.  boys'  heads,  and,  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  give  them  a  parents'  fare- 
well blessing,  between  sobs  and  broken  ac- 
cents, while  tears  trickled  down  their  hol- 
lowed cheeks.  After  these  affectionate  part- 
ings had  taken  place,  the  young  braves  met 
with  their  superior  officers,  to  receive  their 
final  instructions.  Within  twenty-four  hours 
from  the  time  they  were  notified  to  be  ready, 
they  had  their  supplies  lashed  to  their  pack 
animals,  and  were  in  their  saddles  and  off. 

They  took  the  trail  of  the  red-skin 
thieves,  who  sometimes  had  several  days 
the  start  of  them,  with  perhaps  three  or  four 
hundred  head  of  stolen  stock.  The  men  were 
always  mounted  on  good  horses,  and  the  In- 
dians knew  what  to  expect  if  they  were 
overtaken.  The  boys  would  follow  them  for 
hundreds  of  miles,  over  rocks,  rivers,  des- 
erts, mountains,  and  through  heavy  under- 
brush that  almost  tore  the  clothing  from 
their  bodies.  When  night  came  a  heavy 
guard  was  placed  around  their  animals,  in 
addition  to  camp  and  picket  guard.  This  was 
very  trying  on  them  after  riding  thirty-five 
or  forty  miles  a  day,  over  a  rough  country, 
through  the  hot  sun  of  summer,  or  the  cold 

92 


Out  Pioneee  Boys 

weather  of  winter.  They  were  often  so 
worn  out  that  they  were  obliged  to  resort 
to  all  kinds  of  schemes  to  keep  from  going 
to  sleep  while  on  duty.  The  picket  guard 
was  the  most  trying  of  the  three,  as  the  men 
were  stationed  about  a  mile  from  camp  in 
the  different  mountain  passes  that  they 
knew  the  Indians  would  be  compelled  to 
take  before  attacking  the  camp,  or  stamped- 
ing their  horses. 

Here  the  men  would  lay  flat  on  the 
ground  for  hours  at  a  time,  listening  and 
watching  for  Indians.  They  scarcely  ever 
built  fires,  on  such  occasions,  since  the 
smoke  by  day,  or  the  light  by  night,  might 
reveal  to  the  red  men  their  whereabouts. 
Their  covering  at  night  generally  consisted 
of  their  damp  saddle  blankets,  with  their 
saddles  for  pillows. 

Every  fifteen  or  twenty  miles,  or  when 
they  found  a  favorable  place,  it  was  the  cus- 
tom of  the  Indians  to  divide  their  herds  of 
stolen  stock,  and  drive  the  animals  so  di- 
vided in  two  different  directions.  This  they 
repeated  as  long  as  there  were  any  stock  to 
divide.  The  men  kept  together  and  followed 
the  most  favorable  trail,  until  they  reached 
the  end  of  their  journey. 

It  always  tested  the  mettle  of  the  boys 
when  they  were  compelled  to  swim  rivers, 


Thrilling  Experiences 

during  cold  weather.  Sometimes,  while 
fording  treacherous  mountain  streams  dur- 
ing high  water,  a  horse  lost  its  footing,  and 
both  rider  and  horse  were  carried  down 
stream,  never  to  be  seen  again. 

When  they  ran  short  of  provisions  they 
killed  wild  game  and  jerked  the  meat.  Once 
in  a  while,  they  entered  barren  regions, 
where  game  was  not  found.  Then  they  were 
compelled  to  live  on  the  meat  of  their  faith- 
ful saddle  animals.  When  they  were  thus 
obliged  to  kill  the  horses  that  had  carried 
them  so  many  thousands  of  miles,  under  the 
most  trying  circumstances,  it  almost  broke 
their  hearts. 

Sometimes  they  were  compelled  to  fol- 
low narrow  and  dangerous  trails  for  miles, 
single  file,  through  box  canyons,  where  the 
savages  could  have  dropped  rocks  on  their 
heads  as  they  passed  by.  Often  they  were 
strung  out  so  far  that  the  Indians  could  have 
attacked  the  front  ranks  without  the  knowl- 
edge of  those  in  the  rear.  At  night  signal 
fires  could  be  seen  on  the  tops  of  moun- 
tains, along  their  route,  made  by  the  In- 
dians to  warn  their  red-skin  friends  of  ap- 
proaching danger.  The  boys  fully  realized 
that  nothing  but  an  overruling  Power  could 
bring  them  through  such  places  alive.  They 
had  great  faith  in  the  blessings  and  prom- 

94 


Our  Pioneer  Boys 

ises  made  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  by  their 
parents  before  leaving  home.  They  were 
naturally  of  a  religious  turn  of  mind,  and 
though  they  often  remarked  that  their  par- 
ents did  the  praying  while  they  did  the 
fighting,  they  never  failed  to  attend  to  their 
secret  prayers. 

It  sometimes  happened,  after  following 
the  red  men  for  hundreds  of  miles,  that  the 
boys  found  for  their  pains  only  four  or  five 
head  of  tired  out  cattle,  and  no  signs  of  In- 
dians. The  men  then  killed  the  cattle,  jerk- 
ed the  meat,  and  started  for  home,  sore,  stiff, 
and  disappointed. 

On  the  return  home  from  these  long  and 
hard  expeditions,  their  parents  hardly  knew 
them,  they  were  so  reduced  in  flesh,  and 
their  clothing  was  so  badly  worn  and  torn. 
It  often  happened  that  before  they  had  been 
home  long  enough  to  get  needed  rest  they 
were  called  in  other  directions,  to  chase  af- 
ter other  hostile  bands  of  Indians,  or  per- 
haps were  sent  out  on  the  plains  to  guard 
emigrants  who  often  designated  them  as 
their  guardian  angels. 

During  the  fall  and  winter  of  1856,  many 
of  the  boys  passed  through  hardships  that 
few  persons  could  have  endured.  This  was 
the  hand-cart  season,  when  so  many  emi- 
grants perished  from  cold  and  hunger.  The 

95 


Thrilling  Experiences 

last  hand-cart  company  that  season,  num- 
bering about  six  hundred,  were  rescued  by  a 
party  of  these  young  heroes  on  the  Sweet- 
water,  near  where  it  flows  through  Devil's 
Gate,  Wyoming.  Nearly  one-third  of  these 
pilgrims  died  before  reaching  Salt  Lake  Val- 
ley. Three  of  our  brave  young  men,  under 
twenty  years  of  age,  carried  on  their  backs 
upwards  of  five  hundred  of  these  freezing 
people  across  the  Sweetwater  river,  break- 
ing the  ice  before  them  as  they  waded  from 
shore  to  shore.  At  that  time  they  contracted 
colds  that  finally  terminated  in  their  deaths. 
When  President  Brigham  Young  heard  of 
this  heroic  act,  he  wept  like  a  child,  and 
declared  that  this  act  alone  would  immor- 
talize them.  Their  names  are,  George  W. 
Grant,  C.  Allen  Huntington,  and  David  P. 
Kimball. 

It  wrould  take  volumes  to  place  properly 
before  the  people  all  the  heroic  acts  per- 
formed by  our  early  day  pioneer  boys.  They 
were  instruments  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord 
in  making  it  possible  for  the  thousands  of 
emigrants,  who  came  to  Utah  in  early  days, 
to  dwell  in  peace  in  these  valleys  of  the 
mountains.  These  boys  were  naturally  in- 
telligent, honest,  truthful,  virtuous,  God- 
fearing and  as  tender-hearted  as  chidren. 
Of  course,  they  were  somewhat  rough,  as 

96 


Our   Pioneer  Boys 

they  had  but  little  time  to  attend  school,  and 
to  enjoy  the  comforts  of  home  life.  Most 
of  them  were  good  story-tellers,  and  could 
almost  make  one's  hair  stand  on  end,  while 
relating  their  experiences.  They  were  a 
cheerful  lot  of  fellows,  under  the  most  try- 
ing circumstances,  and  not  a  word  of  com- 
plaint was  ever  heard  to  come  from  their 
lips. 

It  is  remarkable,  in  view  of  conditions, 
how  few  of  them  lost  their  lives,  either  in  In- 
dian fights  or  by  accident.  It  seemed  like 
the  powers  of  heaven  were  watching  over 
them.  Hundreds  of  times  they  took  their 
lives  in  their  own  hands,  while  braving  the 
dangers  they  were  almost  constantly  pass- 
ing through.  They  did  their  work  cheer- 
fully and  without  remuneration.  The  most 
of  them  performed  foreign  missions,  and 
were  very  successful  in  bringing  souls  to  re- 
pentance. 

This  generation  of  Latter-day  Saints  will 
never  fully  appreciate  what  our  pioneer  boys 
have  done  towards  the  establishment  of  the 
Church  in  these  valleys,  and  the  founding 
of  homes,  until  the  books  spoken  of  in  John 
the  Revelator  shall  have  been  opened.  When 
the  dead,  small  and  great,  shall  stand  before 
God,  to  be  judged  according  to  their  works, 
these  brave  "Mormon"  boys,  a  few  of  whom 

97 


Thrilling  Experiences 

are  still  with  us,  will  undoubtedly  be  found 
in  the  front  ranks  among  the  noble  and 
great  ones  "which  came  out  of  great  tribu- 
lation/' 


98 


A  HAZARDOUS  JOURNEY 

[The  following  is  a  very  interesting  account  of  one 
of  those  frequent  pioneer  trips  taken  by  President 
Brigham  Young  while  engaged  in  the  founding  of  set- 
tlements in  these  valleys  of  the  mountains.  It  is 
doubly  entertaining  because  written  by  a  son  of  He- 
ber  C.  Kimball,  Brigham's  right  hand  man.  Solomon 
P.  Kimball  was  at  that  time  a  lad  of  seventeen,  and 
has  a  special  and  vivid  recollection  of  the  particular 
journey  described  herein.  He  states  that  the  object  of 
going  so  early  in  the  season  was  to  comply  with  the 
wishes  of  Apostle  C.  C.  Rich  who  had  been  chosen  by 
President  Young  to  supervise  the  settling  of  Bear 
Lake  Valley,  and  who  was  anxious  that  President 
Young  should  come  early  to  aid  him  in  selecting  town- 
sites,  so  that  the  settlers  could  get  at  their  work  of 
building  and  farming. — Editors  of  Improvement  Era.l 

The  Saints  from  all  nations  were  wending  their  way 
To  the  tops  of  the  mountains  of  Ephraim  to  stay: 
And  thousands  of  pilgrims  were  pressed  to  the  wall. 
As  the  borders  of  Zion  were  growing  too  small. 
Our  leaders  all  ready  to  make  a  new  stake, 
Then  hitched  up  their  teams  for  a  trip  to  Bear  Lake: 
To  the  land  of  the  blizzard,  the  home  of  the  deer. 
Through  mud  and  through  torrents  they  drove  without 

fear. 
O'er    mountains   and   valleys,     through   canyons     and 

brush, 

They  plodded  right  on  through  snowdrifts  and  slush; 
While  ox  teams  from  Paris,  with  drivers  galore, 
Came  aiding  our  leaders  all  jaded  and  sore. 


Thrilling  Experiences 


With  townsites  selected  in  care  of  wise  men, 
Provisions  exhausted,  they  rushed  back  again; 
Then  ere  they  had  rested  decided  to  take 
A  trip  to  the  land  of  the  lizard  and  snake. 
Year  in  and  year  out  they  continued  to  toil, 
In  teaching  the  Saints  to  bring  wealth  from  the  soil; 
Hurrah  for  our  leaders,  the  Prophets  of  God! 
We'll  hold  up  their  hands  and  we'll  hang  to  the  rod! 


The  rising  generation  know  but  little  of 
the  hardships  endured  in  early  days  by  the 
leading  men  of  this  Church,  while  they  were 
helping  the  poor  Saints  to  establish  them- 
selves in  these  valleys.  In  order  to  make 
plain  to  them  at  least  one  phase  of  this  sub- 
ject it  will  only  be  necessary  to  give  a  brief 
account  of  President  Young  and  party's  first 
visit  to  the  Bear  Lake  country. 

On  Monday  morning,  May  16,  1864,  at 
8:30  o'clock,  this  little  company  drove  out 
of  Salt  Lake  City  on  its  journey.  It  con- 
sisted of  six  light  vehicles  and  a  baggage 
wagon,  occupied  by  the  following  persons: 
Brigham  Young,  Heber  C.  Kimball,  John 
Taylor,  Geo.  A.  Smith,  Wilford  Woodruff, 
Joseph  Young,  John  R.  Winder,  Jesse  W. 
Fox,  Professor  Thomas  Ellerbeck,  George 
D.  Watt,  reporter,  and  seven  teamsters. 
They  reached  Franklin,  Idaho,  on  the  after- 
noon of  the  third  day,  and  by  that  time  had 
increased  their  number  to  one  hundred  and 

100 


A  Hazardous  Journey 

fifty-three  men,  eighty-six  of  whom  were 
riding  in  vehicles,  the  balance  being  picked 
men,  mounted  on  good  horses  for  assisting 
the  company  on  the  way.  There  were  no 
houses  between  Franklin  and  Paris,  Idaho, 
consequently  the  program  was  to  drive  di- 
rectly through  in  one  day  if  possible. 

The  fourth  morning  they  got  an  early 
start,  and  drove  almost  to  Mink  Creek  with- 
out accident.  Here  Brother  George  A. 
Smith's  carriage  broke  down,  but  as  good 
luck  would  have  it,  the  brethren  from  Cache 
Valley  had  brought  a  light  wagon  along  in 
case  of  such  an  emergency.  The  company 
were  soon  on  the  way  again,  as  though  noth- 
ing had  happened. 

They  reached  the  foot  of  the  big  moun- 
tain which  divides  Cache  Valley  from  Bear 
Lake  Valley,  and  here  is  where  the  tug  of 
war  began.  The  mountain  was  so  steep  that 
all  were  compelled  to  walk  except  Apostle 
Smith,  who  was  so  heavy  that  it  would  have 
been  dangerous  for  him  to  undertake  it,  as 
he  weighed  nearly  three  hundred  pounds. 
The  mounted  men  soon  had  extra  horses 
harnessed  and  hitched  to  singletrees,  and 
President  Young  and  others,  who  were  too 
heavy  to  help  themselves,  took  hold  of  these 
singletrees  with  both  hands  and  were  helped 
up  the  mountain. 

101 


Thrilling  Experiences 

Apostle  Charles  C.  Rich  and  others,  who 
had  settled  in  the  Bear  Lake  Valley  the  fall 
before,  came  to  their  assistance  with  all  the 
ox  teams  that  could  be  mustered.  Several 
yokes  were  hitched  to  Brother  George  A. 
Smith's  wagon,  and  he  was  hauled  up  the 
mountain,  but  before  he  reached  the  sum- 
mit his  wagon  was  so  badly  broken  that  he 
was  compelled  to  abandon  it.  Everybody 
had  a  good  laugh  over  the  incident,  it  being 
the  second  vehicle  broken  down  under  his 
weight  that  day.  With  careful  manage- 
ment under  the  supervision  of  President 
Young  and  council,  the  brethren  managed 
to  get  him  onto  the  largest  saddle  horse  that 
could  be  found,  and  another  start  was  made. 

The  company  descended  the  mountain  on 
the  Bear  Lake  side,  and  soon  reached  the 
head  of  Pioneer  Canyon,  where  they  struck 
mud,  mud.  mud,  and  then  some  more  mud. 
It  had  been  raining  all  day,  and  everybody 
was  wet  through  to  the  skin,  except  those 
who  were  riding  in  covered  vehicles.  Four 
horses  were  hitched  to  President  Young's 
carriage,  and  several  yoke  of  oxen  to  the 
baggage  wagon.  The  majority  of  those  who 
were  riding  in  vehicles  were  compelled  to 
walk  on  account  of  the  trail  being  in  such  a 
fearful  condition;  a'nd  to  see  that  presi- 
dential procession  waddling  through  the 

102 


A  Hazardous  Journey 

deep  mud  was  enough  to  make  any  living 
thing  smile.  It  was  the  muddiest  outfit  ever 
seen  in  that  part  of  the  country. 

Professor  Ellerbeck  undertook  to  cross 
the  creek  on  a  pole,  and  slipped  off  into  the 
mud  and  water,  and  was  a  sad  looking  sight 
after  he  had  been  pulled  out.  Many  others 
passed  through  a  similar  experience  that 
day.  It  was  a  case  of  every  fellow  for  him- 
self, some  going  one  way  and  some  another, 
the  majority  of  them  taking  to  the  sidehills. 
Several  times  President  Young's  horses 
mired  down  to  their  sides,  but  with  careful 
management  they  got  through  all  right. 

President  Kimball,  who  was  handling  his 
own  team  that  afternoon,  undertook  to  drive 
around  one  of  these  bad  places,  and  had  not 
gone  far  when  his  horses  struck  a  soft  spot 
and  sank  almost  out  of  sight  in  the  mud. 
Here  is  where  the  mounted  men  were  of 
service  again.  They  soon  had  Brother  Kim- 
ball's  horses  unhitched  from  the  carriage, 
and  long  ropes  fastened  around  their  necks. 
Then  about  thirty  men  got  hold  of  the  ropes 
and  pulled  the  horses  out  bodily,  dragging 
them  several  rods  before  they  could  get  upon 
their  feet.  The  carriage  was  then  pulled 
out. 

President  Young,  who  was  in  the  lead, 
made  another  start,  and  had  not  gone  far 

103 


Thrilling  Experiences 

when  one  of  the  horsemen  brought  word 
that  Brother  George  A.  Smith's  horse  had 
given  out,  and  that  they  were  obliged  to 
build  a  scaffold  in  order  to  get  him  onto  an- 
other one.  This  amusing  story  caused  the 
authorities  to  have  another  laughing  spell  at 
Brother  Smith's  expense. 

This  canyon  is  about  four  miles  long,  and 
it  was  a  mud  hole  from  beginning  to  end. 
The  party  reached  the  mouth  of  it  at  nine 
o'clock  at  night,  and  remained  there  long 
enough  to  rest  and  feed  their  animals.  It 
was  a  cold  night  and  the  men  made  bonfires 
to  keep  themselves  warm  and  dry  their 
clothing. 

About  ten  o'clock  the  company  continued 
their  journey.  They  drove  down  in  the  val- 
ley until  they  came  to  a  small  stream  called 
Canal  Creek.  It  was  so  narrow  and  deep 
that  they  had  to  jump  their  horses  across  it, 
and  then  get  their  vehicles  over  the  best  way 
they  could. 

They  arrived  at  the  city  of  Paris  at  3 
o'clock  the  next  morning,  but  were  unable 
to  see  it  until  they  had  reached  the  top  of  a 
small  hill  in  the  center  of  town.  It  con- 
sisted of  thirty-four  log  huts  with  dirt  roofs, 
but  they  looked  good  just  the  same. 

The  Bear  Lakers  had  caught  a  wagon 
load  of  beautiful  trout  in  honor  of  the  oc- 

104 


A  Hazardous  Journey 

casion,  and  had  plenty  of  good,  fresh  butter 
to  fry  them  in ;  and  what  a  feast  the  brethren 
did  have  after  living  on  hope  and  mud  for 
twenty-four  hours !  Sister  Stocks  and  daugh- 
ter did  the  cooking  for  the  authorities,  and 
it  kept  them  busy  as  long  as  the  party  re- 
mained there. 

The  next  twenty-four  hours  were  spent 
in  resting,  as  everybody  was  worn  out;  al- 
though Professor  Ellerbeck  took  some  scien- 
tific observations  that  day,  probably  the  first 
that  had  ever  been  taken  in  that  valley.  The 
next  day  the  company  drove  over  to  the 
lake,  and  spent  several  hours  at  a  point 
where  Fish  Haven  is  now  located.  They  re- 
turned to  Paris  that  evening.  The  next  day, 
being  Sunday,  they  held  an  outdoor  meet- 
ing in  the  forenoon.  The  speakers  were 
President  Young,  who  delivered  the  accom- 
panying remarks,  and  Elders  Heber  C.  Kim- 
ball,  John  Taylor  and  George  A.  Smith. 

Considerable  merriment  was  afterwards 
had  over  the  question  of  whether  Brother 
Smith  should  return  home  with  the  company 
or  remain  at  Paris  until  the  mud  had  dried 
up.  However,  the  decision  was  that  he  return 
home  with  the  company,  on  conditions  that 
Brother  Rich  furnish  ox  teams  to  haul  him 
through  the  mud,  and  to  the  summit  of  the 
mountain.  This  Elder  Rich,  who  was  the 

105  H 


Thrilling  Experiences 

pioneer  of  Bear  Lake  Valley,  consented  to 
do,  and  at  3  p.m.  the  presidential  party  start- 
ed for  home.  In  the  meantime,  Canal  Creek 
had  been  bridged  over,  and  good  time  was 
made  through  the  valley.  They  reached  the 
mouth  of  Pioneer  Canyon  at  dark,  and 
camped  for  the  night. 

The  next  morning  at  5  o'clock  they  con- 
tinued their  journey  homeward.  Brother 
Rich  had  more  than  kept  his  promise.  He 
furnished  two  yoke  of  oxen  for  President 
Young's  carriage,  and  four  yoke  for  the  bag- 
gage wagon,  the  latter  being  solely  occupied 
by  Brother  George  A.  Smith,  who  had  a 
smile  on  his  countenance  that  made  all  who 
beheld  it  feel  good  through  and  through. 
These  were  the  only  vehicles  drawn  by  ox 
teams.  They  followed  the  road  through  the 
mud,  while  the  lighter  vehicles,  drawn  by 
horses,  hugged  the  sidehills,  which  were  so 
steep  that  the  brethren  had  to  lash  poles  to 
the  carriage  beds,  and  bear  down  on  the  up- 
per end  of  the  poles  to'prevent  the  carriages 
from  tipping  over.  This  plan  worked  like  a 
charm,  and  by  nine  o'clock  the  company  had 
reached  the  summit  of  the  mountain.  Not- 
withstanding it  rained  hard  all  that  day,  the 
party  reached  Franklin  about  five  o'clock 
that  evening,  and  three  days  later  they  ar- 
rived home.  They  had  been  absent  from 

106 


A  Hazardous  Journey 

home  eleven  days,  and  within  that  time  had 
traveled  four  hundred  miles,  besides  holding 
meetings  at  all  the  principal  settlements 
along  the  route,  both  going  and  coming. 
They  also  selected  several  townsites. 

Not  long  after  their  return  home,  they 
started  on  another  journey  to  St.  George, 
going  via  Pine  Valley  and  returning  via 
Toquerville.  They  left  the  main  road  here, 
and  visited  all  settlements  on  the  Rio  Virgin 
river.  They  also  visited  the  principal  set- 
tlements of  Sanpete  Valley,  and  were  gone 
from  home  about  five  weeks,  and  had  trav- 
eled upwards  of  one  thousand  miles. 

President  Young  was  heard  to  say  that 
he  had  traveled  that  summer  not  less  than 
three  thousand  miles,  and  that  this  was  a 
fair  average  of  what  had  been  traveled  by 
himself  and  company  during  many  other  sea- 
sons. On  one  occasion  they'-took  boats  along 
with  them,  in  order  to  ferry  such  streams  as 
the  Snake  and  Salmon  rivers. 


Remarks  by  President  Brigham  Young,  Sun- 
day, 22nd  May,  1864. 

At  10  a.  m.  a  congregation  collected  op- 
posite Elder  Charles  C.  Rich's  dwelling,  at 
Paris,  Bear  Lake  Valley.  Singing.  Prayer 

107 


Thrilling  Experiences 

by  Elder  Wilford  Woodruff,  when  President 
Brigham  Young  said: 

I  do  not  design  ten  preach,  but  merely  to  ex- 
press my  feelings  in  regard  to  this  valley.  We 
find  it  to  be  a  very  excellent  valley,  as  far  as  we 
can  judge  from  present  appearances.  It  is  a  fine 
place  to  settle  and  raise  grain,  to  build  houses, 
make  farms,  set  out  orchards,  raise  fruits  and  all 
the  necessaries  of  life  to  make  ourselves  happy 
here  as  well  as  in  other  places.  Elder  Charles  C. 
Rich,  one  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  has  been  ap- 
pointed to  dictate  the  settlement  of  this  valley. 
We  wish  to  have  the  brethren  abide  his  counsel, 
and  if  he  needs  instructions  he  will  receive  them 
from  the  proper  source.  We  wish  to  see  the 
brethren  willing  and  obedient,  for  the  Lord  will 
have  a  people  of  this  description,  and  if  we  are 
not  prepared  to  build  up  his  kingdom  in  the 
way  he  has  devised,  others  will  be  called  in  who 
will  do  it.  If  we  are  willing  to  do  this,  we  will 
commence  at  home  to  cultivate  our  minds,  and 
govern  our  actions  before  each  other,  and  before 
heaven;  if  we  do  not  do  this  our  labors  to  build 
up  the  kingdom  of  God  will  be  of  littlej  service. 
Self-culture  should  be  as  strenuously  attended  to 
in  this  valley  as  at  the  central  point  of  the  gath- 
ering of  the  Saints. 

There  are  many  advantages  in  this  country, 
and  we  shall  extend  our  settlements  up  and  down 
the  shores  of  this  beautiful  lake  of  water.  I  sup- 
pose we  must  be  some  seventy-five  to  one  hun- 
dred miles  nearer  to  the  South  Pass  than  Salt 
Lake  City  is.  Our  emigration,  destined  for  this 
valley,  will  come  at  once  to  this  point,  'and  prob- 
ably many  will  come  in  this  season.  This  settle- 
ment is  near  the  central  point  of  this  valley.  I 
might  just  as  well  call  this  the  central  point,  as 

108 


A  Hazardous  Journey 

on  the  other  side  of  the  river  we  have  the  farm- 
facilities  that  perhaps  cannot  be  found  in  such 
abundance  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  for  the 
support  of  a  great  city.  I  understand  the  legisla- 
ture has  named  this  settlement  Paris,  and  I  am 
satisfied  with  the  name.  The  place  south  of  this, 
about  seven  miles,  I  propose  to  call  St.  Charles, 
and  it  would  suit  me  to  have  the  county  seat 
there.  The  business  of  the  valley  will  be  done 
at  St.  Charles  whether  Brother  Rich  lives  here  or 
there,  or  whether  the  High  Council  is  held  here 
or  there.  (It  was  then  unanimously  voted  that 
the  settlement  be  called  St.  Charles.)  The  city, 
town,  or  village  that  will  be  built  there,  I  request 
the  people  to  build  on  the  south  side  of  the 
creek;  you  may  call  it  big  water,  tall  water,  large 
water,  big  creek,  or  pleasant  water,  or  rich  water. 

The  people  here  need  a  surveyor.  We  have 
young  men  who  can  learn  in  one  week  to  survey 
this  valley  sufficiently  accurate  to  be  agreeable 
to  all  parties,  and  assure  every  purpose  that  can 
be  desired.  As  to  whether  we  are  in  Utah  Ter- 
ritory or  Idaho  Territory,  I  think  we  are  now  in 
Idaho.  I  have  no  doubt  of  it,  and  the  greater  part 
of  those  who  settle  in  this  valley  will  be  in  that 
territory. 

Let  me  here  offer  a  caution  to  you  Latter-day 
Saints.  Men  will  hunt  for  your  stock.  Brethren 
have  come  here  who  have  been  asked  to  come, 
and  some  have  fled  from  the  influence  of  rule  and 
good  order,  and  when  they  find  it  here,  they  will 
probably  want  to  go  to  some  other  place  where 
they  expect  to  be  exempt  from  paying  taxes  or 
tithing  and  be  from  under  the  influence  of  a 
bishop,  and  where,  if  they  should  take  a  notion 
to  shade  a  beef  creature  it  will  not  be  known. 

We  should  learn  that  we  cannot  live  in  safety 
without  law.  There  is  no  being  in  the  heavens 

100 


Thrilling  Experiences 

that  is  able  to  live  and  endure  without  law;  it 
is  the  purity  of  the  law  that  preserves  the  heav- 
enly hosts,  and  they  strictly  abide  it.  I  know 
what  those  people  are  here  for,  and  their  object, 
if  any,  has  been  to  come  to  this  valley  for  an  im- 
pure purpose.  You  will  know  it,  and  if  they  are 
not  here  yet,  they  will  come  and  settle  on  your 
borders  from  Franklin,  Weber,  Box  Elder,  and 
other  places,  and  they  will  branch  out  and  want 
to  get  beyond  everybody  else,  and  if  there  is  any 
beef  upon  the  range,  they  will  want  to  have  the 
privilege  of  butchering  it,  and  of  using  it  up. 
Every  good  person  wants  to  live  under  the  protec- 
tion of  law  and  order. 

I  wish  to  say  to  the  heads  of  families,  here 
or  elsewhere,  be  sure  to  have  your  prayers  morn- 
ing and  evening.  If  you  forget  your  prayers  this 
morning  you  will  forget  them  tonight,  very  likely, 
and  if  you  cease  to  pray  you  will  be  very  apt  to 
forget  God.  A  true-hearted  Saint  loves  to  pray 
before  his  family,  and  he  loves  to  have  it  known 
that  his  heart  is  for  God,  and  he  is  not  afraid  if 
all  the  world  knows  it. 

Build  mills  to  facilitate  the  building  up  of 
your  towns  and  settlements,  and  let  there  be  no 
selfish  monopoly  in  this.  Let  the  brethren  not 
burn  away  any  of  the  timber  that  will  make  lum- 
ber,, but  bring  it  down  to  your  mills  and  saw  it 
up  for  your  fences,  to  build  your  houses,  and 
make  improvements  of  the  best  kind.  My  opin- 
ion is  that  the  adobe  is  the  best  building  ma- 
terial, if  it  can  be  well  protected  from  moisture, 
which  is  an  easy  matter  when  plenty  of  lumber 
is  to  be  had;  and  when  they  have  stood  one  year, 
they  are  prepared  to  stand  five  hundred  years 
as  well  as  not.  When  you  build  your  permanent 
dwellings,  build  nice,  commodious  habitations, 
and  make  your  improvements  as  fast  as  you  can. 

no 


A  Hazardous  Journey 

When  you  have  gotten  your  crops  in  this  season, 
and  find  a  little  leisure  time,  turn  your  attention 
to  making  a  road  from  here  to  Ogden  Valley,  which 
will  save  fifty  miles,  that  is  the  true  route  to  go, 
and  make  your  roads  as  speedily  as  possible. 

When  you  form  your  settlements,  get  together 
pretty  close,  let  there  be  at  least  ten  families  on 
ten  acres  of  ground.  When  you  start  to  build 
upon  a  block,  (Brother  Charles  C.  Rich,  please 
remember  this),  have  the  brethren  build  upon  the 
block  until  every  lot  is  occupied  before  you  touch 
another.  Then  if  you  should  be  attacked  by  In- 
dians, one  scream  will  arouse  the  whole  block. 
Get  out  these  beautiful  poles  to  fence  with.  I 
see  no  cedar  here,  but  there  is  red  pine,  and  it  Is 
almost  as  good  for  posts  as  cedar. 
This  we  have  proved  to  our  own  satis- 
faction. Make  your  fences  strong  and  high  at 
once,  for  to  commence  a;  fence  with  three  poles 
it  teaches  your  cows  and  other  stock  to  be 
breachy.  They  learn  to  jump  a  three-pole  fence. 
You  add  another  pole,  and  that  is  soon  mastered; 
you  add  another,  and  they  will  try  that.  Thus 
stock  is  trained  to  leap  fences  which  would  oth- 
erwise be  sufficient  to  turn  them. 

I  say  again,  with  regard  to  saw-mills,  get 
every  man  who  can  build  a  saw-mill,  for  boards 
the  proper  width  and  thickness  make  the  cheapest 
fence  you  can  have.  Make  your  improvements, 
and  do  all  you  can. 

Be  sure  that  you  do  not  let  your  little  children 
go  away  from  this  settlement  to  herd  cattle  or 
sheep,  but  keep  them  at  home.  Send  them  to 
school;  neither  suffer  them  to  wander  in  the 
mountains.  When  the  brethren  go  into  the 
mountains  after  timber,  instead  of  going  alone  and 
unarmed,  let  a  few  go  together  and  labor  together 

ill 


Thrilling  Experiences 

to  assist  each  other  in  times  of  difficulty.  If  you 
go  alone,  you  may  be  left  to  perish. 

The  brethren  may  argue  that  the  Lord  is  all 
sufficient  to  take  care  of  them,  but  do  you  know 
what  faith  is,  and  do  you  feel  the  labor  and  re- 
sponsibility that  is  upon  you  to  help  yourself  and 
others?  When  you  are  in  imminent  danger,  do 
you  exercise  faith  to  preserve  yourself  and  friends 
from  the  vengeance  of  deadly  enemies?  If  you  do 
not,  get  faith,  you  will  then  know  what 
the  labor  is.  Three  of  our  brethren  went  out  on 
the  lake  yesterday,  in  a  small  boat.  The  wind 
began  to  blow  from  the  south.  Had  it  not  been 
for  the  faith  of  their  brethren,  and  their  own  ex- 
ertions, very  likely,  they  would  have  been 
drowned,  or  would  have  drifted  to  the  opposite 
side  of  the  lake,  and  starved  to  death,  or  suffered 
greatly  before  help  could  have  reached  them. 
They  were  reckless,  and  unconcerned,  and  ap- 
parently their  lives  are  of  no  worth  in  their  own 
estimation.  It  is  our  duty  to  preserve  our  lives 
as  long  as  possible.  Fathers,  take  warning,  nu- 
merous thieves  have  been  raised  on  the  herd 
grounds  around  our  settlements.  Some  of  them 
go  to  California,  and  others  suffer  the  vengeance 
of  an  outraged  law. 

Keep  your  children  in  school,  and  let  every 
father  and  mother  make  their  homes  so  interest- 
ing that  their  children  will  never  want  to  leave  it. 
Make  your  houses  and  homes  pleasant  with  fol- 
iage and  be'autiful  gardens,  with  the  fragrance 
and  variegated  colors  of  flowers,  and  fruit  blos- 
soms, and,  above  all,  teach  them  always  to  re- 
member that  God  must  be  in  all  our  thoughts, 
and  that  from  him  proceeds  every  good  thing. 

President  Heber  C.  Kimball,  George  A. 
112 


A  Hazardous  Journey 

Smith  and  John  Taylor  followed  the  presi- 
dent in  much  the  same  strain,  and  the  meet- 
ing was  dismissed  by  prayer,  Brother  George 
A.  Smith  being  mouth. 


ANTELOPE  ISLAND 

How   grand    to   be 

On  the  inland  sea; 
It  makes  one  feel  so  young  and  free; 

The  weather  fair, 

With  sweet,   pure  air, 
One  feels   a   heavenly  spirit  there. 

The   sun's   warm   rays 

O'er  island  bays, 
Robes  every  hill  with  verdant  haze; 

So  truly  real 

It  makes  one  feel 
As  though  in  prayer  they  want  to  kneel. 

Beautiful   isles 

Stretching  for  miles, 
With  rugged  hills  'mid  nature's  wilds; 

Antelope   so   free, 

The  gem  of  the  sea, 
It's  where  God's  Prophets  used  to  be. 

In  early  days  Antelope  Island  was  con- 
sidered one  of  our  most  desirable  pleasure 
resorts,  and  many  happy  hours  were  spent 
there  by  our  late  President  Brigham  Young 
and  his  most  intimate  associates.  When 

114 


Antelope  Island 

he  visited  the  island  it  was  generally  for  a 
twofold  purpose,  business  and  pleasure. 

The  first  white  man  that  lived  on  the 
island,  as  far  as  our  knowledge  goes,  was 
aji  old  mountaineer  who  was  called  "Dad- 
dy" Stump.  After  him  came  Fielding  Garr, 
who  had  charge  of  the  Church  stock.  He 
moved  them  there  in  1849,  and  remained  in 
charge  of  the  animals  as  long  as  he  lived. 
He  built  the  old  church  house  and  corral, 
a  part  of  which  remains  there  until  this 
day. 

Presidents  Young  and  Kimball  moved 
their  horses  and  sheep  there  several  years 
later,  placing  them  in  charge  of  Joseph  To- 
ronto and  Peter  O.  Hanson.  Several  times 
they  visited  the  island  themselves.  In  the 
summer  of  1856,  they,  in  company  with 
several  of  their  family,  spent  two  or  three 
days  there.  The  lake  was  quite  high  at  the 
time,  and  both  Toronto  and  Hanson  met 
them  at  the  lake  shore  with  a  boat  and 
rowed  them  over,  while  the  team's  forded 
it.  The  time  was  pleasantly  spent  in  driv- 
ing over  the  island  and  in  visiting  places  of 
interest, — bathing,  boat-riding  and  inspect- 
ing their  horses  and  sheep.  Old  "Daddy" 
Stump's  mountain  home,  then  deserted, 
was  visited.  They  drove  their  car- 
riages as  near  to  it  as  possible,  and  walked 


115 


Thrilling  Experiences 

the  remainder  of  the  way,  a  distance  of  a 
half  mile  or  more.  Everything  was  found 
just  as  the  old  man  had  left  it,  and  a  cu- 
rious conglomeration  of  houses,  barns, 
sheds  and  corrals  it  was.  It  was  located  at 
the  head  of  a  small,  open  canyon,  against 
a  steep  mountain.  The  house  was  made  of 
cedar  posts  set  upright  and  covered  with  a 
dirt  roof.  Close  to  it  was  a  good  spring  of 
water.  The  house  and  barn  formed  a  part 
of  the  corral,  and  just  below  was  his  orchard 
and  garden.  The  peach  trees  were  loaded 
with  fruit,  no  larger  than  walnuts.  The  old 
man,  feeling  that  civilization  was  encroach- 
ing upon  his  rights,  had  picked  up  his  duds 
and  driven  his  horses  and  cattle  to  a  se- 
cluded spot  in  Cache  Valley.  The  last  heard 
of  him1  was  that  a  Ute  squaw  crept  up  be- 
hind him  and  cut  his  throat.  The  party  re- 
turned to  the  Church  ranch  that  evening 
and  drove  homie  the  next  day.  Brother 
Garr  died  in  1855,  and  a  year  or  two  later 
Briant  Stringham  took  charge  of  the  stock. 
In  1857,  quite  a  romantic  episode  took 
place  hi  Salt  Lake  City,  terminating  on 
Antelope  Island ;  it  stirred  the  four  hundred 
of  Salt  Lake  to  the  center.  Thos  S.  Will- 
iams, then  one  of  Salt  Lake's  most  prosper- 
ous merchants,  closed  out  his  business,  and 
had  made  extensive  preparations  to  go  East 

116 


Antelope  Island 

with  his  family,  where  he  expected  to  make 
his  home.  He  had  a  beautiful  and  accom- 
plished daughter,  engaged  to  David  P.  Kim- 
ball;  but,  on  account  of  their  being  so 
young,  Mr.  Williams  would  not  consent  to 
their  marriage.  The  young  couple  were  de- 
termined not  to  be  thwarted  in  their  plans, 
and  matters  became  desperate  with  them  as 
well  as  with  her  parents.  Her  father  placed 
trusted  guards  over  her,  and  she  was  care- 
fully watched  by  them,  night  and  day,  un- 
til the  hour  of  departure  had  come.  That 
morning,  in  an  unguarded  moment,  she 
darted  out  of  the  back  door  and  was  out  of 
sight  almost  instantly.  A  carriage  and  four 
horsemen  were  in  waiting  for  her,  and,  be- 
fore the  guards  had  fairly  missed  her,  she 
and  her  intended  were  hurled  over  to  Judge 
Elias  Smith's  office  and  were  made  husband 
and  wife  for  all  time.  They  then  jumped 
into  the  carriage,  drawn  by  two  fiery  steeds, 
and  accompanied  by  four  mounted  guards, 
composed  of  Joseph  A.  Young,  Heber  P. 
Kim-ball,  Quince  Knowlton  arid  Brigham 
Young,  Jr.,  they  made  a  dash  for  Ante- 
lope Island,  reaching  their  destination  in 
less  than  three  hours.  Here  the  young  cou- 
ple spent  their  honeymoon,  remaining  there 
until  her  father  was  well  on  his  journey  to 
the  East.  Not  a  living  soul  knew  where 


117 


Thrilling  Experiences 

they  were,  except  those  who  had  aided  them 
in  their  elopement,  until  they  came  out  of 
their  hiding  place. 

It  was  about  the  year  1860  that  Presi- 
dent Young,  at  the  head  of  a  select  party  of 
prominent  men,  visited  Antelope  Island 
again.  He  took  all  of  his  clerks  with  him, 
the  majority  of  whom  were  good  musicians. 
They  formed  a  splendid  string  band,  led  by 
Horace  K.  Whitney,  and  many  pleasant 
hours  were  spent  in  listening  to  their  sweet 
music.  The  party  remained  there  three 
days,  enjoying  a  continued  feast  of  pleas- 
ure the  whole  time.  Much  of  the  time  was 
spent  in  boating,  bathing  and  climbing  to 
the  topmost  peaks  of  the  island.  All  places 
of  interest  were  visited,  some  riding  in  car- 
riages, others  on  horseback,  and  some  going 
afoot.  Many  visited  the  wreck  of  the  once 
famous  boat,  Timely  Gull.  The  heavy 
winds  from  the  southeast  had  broken  it 
loose  from  its  moorings  at  Black  Rock,  two 
years  before,  and  had  driven  it  to  the  south 
end  of  the  island  and  thrown  it  high  and 
dry  upon  the  rocky  beach.  This  was  the 
first  boat  of  consequence  that  was  ever 
sailed  upon  the  waters  of  Salt  Lake.  When 
the  boat  was  first  launched,  President 
Young,  with  a  select  party,  made  several 
-excursions  over  the  lake  with  it,  and  it  was 

118 


Antelope  Island 

considered  to  be  quite  a  novelty  in  those 
days.  The  following  is  taken  from  Presi- 
dent Young's  journal  of  January  30,  1854: 

With  a  small  party  of  friends  I  witnessed  the 
launching  of  my  boat,  just  below  the  city  bridge 
and  from  the  west  bank  of  the  Jordan.  I  christ- 
ened her  the  Timely  Gull.  She  is  forty-five  feet 
long  and  designed  for  a  stern  wheel  to  be  pro- 
pelled by  horses  working  a  treadmill,  and  to  be 
used  mainly  to  transport  stock  between  the  city 
and  Antelope  Island. 

Every  evening  a  couple  of  large  camp- 
fires  were  made,  and  young  and  old  alike 
would  unite  in  having  a  genuine  good  time 
in  roasting  and  eating  meat  for  the  evening 
meal.  It  was  amusing  to  see  the  high-toned 
clerks  and  members  of  the  Deseret  Dra- 
matic Association  sitting  around  these  fires 
broiling  teabone  and  tenderloin  steaks, 
which  they  had  fastened  to  the  ends  of  long, 
sharp  sticks.  Then  with  bread  and  butter 
in  one  hand  and  their  meat  in  the  other, 
with  plenty  of  good  milk  on  the  side,  they 
ate  their  suppers  with  a  relish  that  would 
have  made  the  kings  and  noblemen  of  the 
earth  look  on  with  envy. 

Another  important  feature  connected 
with  this  pleasure  trip  that  made  all  who 
were  not  acquainted  with  western  life  look 
on  with  amazement  was  the  display  of 

119 


Thrilling  Experiences 

horsemanship.  There  were  upwards  of  one 
thousand  horses  on  the  island,  the  majority 
of  them  being  almost  as  wild  as  deer.  Briant 
Stringham,  who  was  in  charge,  made  it  a 
point  to  corral  every  horse  on  the  island 
at  least  once  a  year.  At  such  times  they 
were  branded,  handled  and  looked  after  in  a 
general  way. 

President  Young  had  invited  some  of  the 
most  noted  horsemen  in  the  territory  to  be 
present  on  this  particular  occasion.  They 
came  there  mounted  on  the  best  of  horses  to 
take  part  in  the  yearly  round  up,  and  they 
were  all  ready  and  anxious  for  the  fray. 
Among  them  were  such  men  as  Lot  Smith, 
Judson  Stoddard,  Brigham  Young,  Jr.,  Len 
Rice,  Stephen  Taylor,  Ezra  Clark,  Heber 
P.  Kimball,  and  the  Ashby  and  Garr  boys, 
and  others,  every  one  of  whom  knew  the 
island  from  A  to  izzard.  There  was  not  one 
of  them  but  could  ride  a  bucking  horse 
bareback,  or  lariat  the  wildest  mustang  on 
the  range.  President  Young  was  not  long 
in  giving  them  the  word  to  go,  and  there 
was  "something  doing"  for  the  next  three 
days. 

The  boys  left  the  ranch  early  that  morn- 
ing in  bunches  of  three,  and  about  two  hours 
apart.  They  crossed  the  island  to  the  west 
side,  and  rode  leisurely  along  until  they 

120 


Antelope   Island 

reached  the  north  end,  scaring  up  wild 
bands  of  horses  as  they  went,  and  heading 
them  that  way.  By  that  time  their  horses 
were  pretty  well  "gaunted,"  and  ready  for 
the  15-mile  dash  that  lay  before  them.  They 
were  island-raised,  long-winded,  swift-foot- 
ed, and  their  speed  on  a  long  run  was  some- 
thing wonderful.  They  had  been  picked 
from  the  best  on  the  island,  and  their  worth 
could  only  be  estimated  by  the  class  of 
men  who  owned  them.  The  moment  one 
of  these  wild  bands  were  started  up,  they 
must  be  kept  on  the  run  until  they  reached 
their  destination,  or  they  would  scatter  and 
run  in  every  direction.  No  set  of  men  could 
corral  one  of  these  bands  unless  they  were 
expert  horsemen,  and  acquainted  with  all  the 
surroundings  and  conditions,  and  mounted 
on  the  best  of  horses. 

About  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the 
round-up,  a  dust  was  seen  near  the  north  end 
of  the  island.  It  had  the  appearance  of  a 
whirlwind,  moving  southward  at  the  rate 
of  about  twenty-five  miles  an  hour.  Nothing 
could  be  seen  but  dust,  until  it  had  reached 
within  about  two  miles  of  the  house.  T.  B. 
H.  Stenhouse,  and  other  journalists,  had 
climbed  to  the  top  of  the  house  in  order  to 
get  a  full  view  of  the  approaching  band. 
Everybody  was  on  tiptoe,  and  the  excite- 

121  I 


Thrilling  Experiences 

ment  was  intense.  Here  they  came,  the 
speediest  animals  in  the  lead,  and  all  of 
them  white  with  foam,  panting-  like  lizards. 
There  were  about  seventy-five  of  them  in 
all,  and  some  of  them  as  fine  animals  as 
could  be  found  in  any  country  on  earth. 
Those  present  from  the  old  countries,  who 
had  never  witnessed  such  a  scene  before, 
stood  almost  paralyzed  with  excitement. 

The  enthusiasm  manifested  by  the  on- 
lookers was  so  great  that  it  almost  lifted 
them  from  their  feet.  Before  they  had  fair- 
ly gotten  their  breath  and  recovered  from 
the  shock,  another  exhibition  of  horseman- 
ship presented  itself  before  them,  which  al- 
most left  the  first  one  in  the  shade.  Four 
of  the  largest  horsemen  of  them  all,  led  by 
Lot  Smith  and  Judson  Stoddard,  mounted 
four  large  and  beautiful  island  horses,  and 
entered  the  corral  where  the  wild  horses 
stood  snorting  like  so  many  elk.  Lot  led 
the  chase,  with  his  partner  close  behind  him, 
followed  by  Judson  Stoddard  and  his  part- 
ner. While  these  wild  animals  were  on  the 
run  around  the  large  corral,  Lot  threw  his 
lariat  over  the  front  foot  of  one  of  them, 
and  at  the  same  moment  his  partner  had 
lassoed  the  same  animal  around  the  neck, 
and,  with  their  lariats  around  the  horns  of 
their  saddles,  had,  in  less  than  a  half  minute, 

122 


Antelope  Island 

thrown  the  horse  and  dragged  it  over  the 
soft  and  smooth  surface  of  the  corral,  a  dis- 
tance of  several  rods,  to  a  place  where  the 
fire  and  branding  irons  were,  and  in  another 
half  minute  the  horse  was  branded  and 
turned  loose.  They  had  no  more  than  gotten 
out  of  the  way  before  Judson  Stoddard  and 
his  partner  had  another  horse  ready  for  the 
finishing  touch,  and  so  it  continued,  until 
the  band  had  been  disposed  of  and  turned 
loose  on  the  range,  to  make  room  for  the 
next  one,  that  was  expected  at  any  moment. 
The  valuable  saddle  horses  ridden  by  these 
expert  horsemen  were  selected  from  the  wild 
bands,  while  on  some  of  these  long  runs. 
It  was  a  test  that  tried  the  mettle  of  every 
horse  in  the  band,  the  horses  that  came  out 
in  the  lead  on  a  fifteen  or  twenty  mile  run 
could  be  depended  upon  as  horses  that 
were  almost  priceless  for  saddle  animals, 
over  a  rough  and  mountainous  country. 
That  day  the  price  of  island  horses  rose 
fifty  per  cent,  and  the  man  who  could  af- 
ford to  own  one  of  these  beautiful  animals 
was  considered  lucky. 

On  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day.  Presi- 
dent Young  and  party  returned  home,  and 
those  who  composed  the  company  declared 
without  hesitation  that  they  had  had  "the 
time  of  their  lives/'  and  would  always  look 

123 


Thrilling  Experiences 

back  to  this  excursion  to  Antelope  Island 
with  the  greatest  of  pleasure. 

Antelope  Island  is  about  eighteen  miles 
in  length,  and  from  four  to  six  miles  in 
width.  The  east  side  is  comparatively 
smooth,  and  a  good  wagon  road  extends  al- 
most its  entire  length.  On  the  west  side 
there  are  many  beautiful  little  glens,  coves, 
and  precipitous  canyons,  and  the  land  is 
rough  and  rugged  from  one  end  to  the  other. 

The  wild  horses  that  once  roamed  over 
it  possessed  characteristics  peculiar  to  them- 
selves, and  in  many  ways  seemed  to  be  as 
intelligent  as  human  beings.  There  were 
two  reasons  for  this.  In  the  first  place,  they 
came  from  good  stock.  The  "Mormon" 
Church,  under  the  direction  of  Fielding 
Garr  and  Briant  Stringham,  invested  thou- 
sands of  dollars  in  valuable  stallions  and 
brood  mares,  which  were  turned  loose  on 
the  island.  In  the  second  place,  they  be- 
came nimble,  wiry,  and  sure-footed  by  con- 
tinually traveling  over  the  rough  trails  of 
the  island  from  the  time  they  were  foaled 
until  they  were  grown.  It  became  second 
nature  to  them  to  climb  over  the  rugged 
mountain  sides,  and  to  jump  up  and  down 
precipitous  places  four  or  five  feet  high. 
The  speed  which  they  could  make  while 
traveling  over  such  places  was  simply  mar- 

124 


Antelope  Island 

velous.  They  neither  stumbled  nor  fell,  no 
matter  how  rough  the  country  nor  how  fast 
they  went.  They  were  naturally  of  a  kind 
disposition,  and  as  gentle  as  lambs,  after 
having  been  handled  a  few  times.  But  with 
all  of  their  perfections,  they  had  a  weakness 
that  made  many  a  man's  face  turn  red  with 
anger;  they  loved  their  island  home,  and  it 
was  hard  to  wean  them  from  it.  When  a 
favorable  opportunity  presented  itself,  dur- 
ing the  summer  months,  they  would  take 
the  nearest  cut  to  the  island,  swimming  the 
lake  wherever  they  happened  to  come  to  it, 
and  keep  going  until  they  reached  their  des- 
tination. Lot  Smith's  favorite  saddle  horse 
played  this  trick  on  him  several  times,  even 
taking  the  saddle  Avith  him  on  one  occasion. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  little  nooks  on 
the  island  is  on  the  top  of  the  mountains, 
about  five  miles  from  the  north  end.  It  cov- 
ers nearly  one  square  mile  of  ground,  and 
slopes  to  the  west.  It  is  made  up  of  low 
hills  and  shallow  hollows,  dotted  here  and 
there  with  cedar  and  other  evergreen  trees. 
A  half  mile  below  is  a  small  pool  of  living 
water,  the  only  place  within  five  miles 
where  one  can  get  a  good  drink.  This  was 
the  home  of  the  wildest  horses. 

In  1870  an  antelope  was  seen  galloping 
over  the  hills  with  a  band  of  wild  horses. 

125 


Thtilltng  Experiences 

It  was  probably  the  only  one  left  to  repre- 
sent its  once  numerous  kind.  In  early  days, 
when  numerous,  they  learned  to  regard  the 
horse  as  their  best  friend.  During  hard 
winters,  when  the  grass  was  deeply  covered 
with  snow,  the  horses  out  of  necessity 
pawed  the  snow  off  the  grass  and  ate  the 
best  of  it,  then  moved  along  to  pastures  new. 
The  half-starved  antelope  followed  closely 
on  their  heels,  to  gather  the  crumbs  that 
fell  from  the  proverbial  "table."  The  ante- 
lope's appreciation  of  this  generous  act  was 
not  soon  forgotten,  so,  during  the  summer 
months,  when  times  were  good  and  they 
were  feeling  the  benefit  of  the  rich  bunch 
grass  that  had  taken  effect  upon  their  lean 
ribs,  they  felt  honored  to  have  the  privilege 
of  romping  over  the  island  with  their  high- 
ly esteemed  friends  and  benefactors.  On 
one  occasion,  in  the  early  fifties,  when  He- 
ber  P.  Kimball  and  companions  were  cor- 
ralling one  of  these  wild  bands,  a  herd  of 
antelope  ran  along  with  them  almost  to  the 
house.  Hebe,  touching  the  flanks  of  his 
horse  with  his  spurs,  darted  out  towards 
them  and  lariated  the  fattest  one  in  the 
bunch,  the  others  then  scampering  off  to 
the  foothills. 

Briant  Stringham  died  in  1871,  and,  sad 
to  say,  after  that  there  was  no  interest  taken 

126 


Antelope  Island 

in  the  island  horse.  There  were  then  about 
five  hundred,  and  they  were  allowed  to  run 
wild.  For  four  years  they  never  saw  a  hu- 
man being.  The  Church  people  were  anxious 
to  get  them  off,  and,  in  1875,  contracted  with 
Chambers,  White  &  Company,  agreeing  to 
let  them  have  one-half  of  all  they  could  de- 
liver in  Salt  Lake  City.  These  parties  em- 
ployed four  horsemen  to  assist  them.  They 
shipped  their  outfit  over  to  the  island  and 
began  work  at  once.  Near  the  north  end, 
on  the  east  side,  they  built  a  corral  close  to 
the  lake.  Ten  tons  of  hay  were  stacked  in 
the  center.  They  built  a  fence  from 
the  corral  to  a  little  steep  bluff,  a  half  mile 
away.  This  formed  a  wing  on  the  south 
side,  and  the  lake  formed  one  on  the  north. 
They  were  then  ready  for  business.  Station- 
ing their  hired  men  along  the  north  end  of 
the  island,  to  prevent  the  wild  horses  cross- 
ing to  the  east  side,  the  three  contractors 
rode  south  in  search  of  horses.  They  had 
not  gone  far  when  they  discovered  between 
sixty  and  seventy  head  grazing  on  a  low 
side-hill.  Keeping  out  of  sight,  until  they 
came  close  in  behind  the  horses,  a  signal 
was  given  and  a  rush  made  towards  them. 
The  wild  animals  started  in  the  right  direc- 
tion, and  everything  seemed  to  work  like  a 
charm.  One  of  the  contractors,  an  old  stage- 

127 


Thrilling  Experiences 

driver,  dressed  in  white,  who  had  never 
chased  wild  horses  over  a  rough  country  be- 
fore, got  his  eyes  fastened  upon  several 
beautiful  animals  which  he  thought  would 
make  good  stagers.  With  his  hat  in  one 
hand,  and  his  bridle  reins  in  the  other,  he 
went  tearing  down  the  hill,  as  if  the  "Old 
Nick"  himself  was  after  him.  He  followed 
a  narrow  trail  through  sagebrush  as  high  as 
his  horse's  back,  and  soon  came  to  a  place 
where  the  trail  forked.  He  took  the  right 
hand  fork  and  his  horse  took  the  left.  He 
went  sailing  over  the  high  sagebrush  like  a 
seagull  in  a  whirlwind.  His  saddle  horse 
was  found  several  days  later,  and  the  old 
man  was  ready  for  another  run  by  that 
time.  , 

Everybody  took  a  hand  in  the  chase,  as 
it  meant  several  thousand  dollars,  provided 
this  band  could  be  corralled.  The  men  were 
all  excited;  discipline  and  prearrangements 
were  thrown  to  the  wind.  The  wild  horses 
were  almost  frightened  to  death,  and  were 
in  the  lead  at  least  half  a  mile.  They  ran 
into  the  corral,  around  the  haystack,  and  out 
of  the  gate.  Every  last  one  of  them  got 
away.  This  was  a  sad  disappointment,  and 
far-reaching,  since  an  island  horse  was 
never  known  to  be  caught  in  the  same  trap 
twice.  It  seemed  like  all  the  other  horses 

123 


Antelope  Island 

on  the  island  had  been  let  into  the  secret, 
for  the  next  day  they  could  not  find  one  with- 
in ten  miles  of  there.  Mr.  Chambers  and 
his  companion  rode  around  the  island  to 
scare  them  back,  but  had  a  hard  time  to  find 
the  blind  trails  that  led  north,  on  the  west 
side.  The  country  for  miles  around  seemed 
to  be  made  up  of  large  and  small  boulders 
cropping  out  of  the  ground  from  one  to  ten 
inches,  which  made  it  almost  impossible  for 
valley-raised  horses  to  travel.  There  was 
one  place  where  they  had  to  jump  their 
horses  up  a  steep  cliff  almost  four  feet  high. 
They  had  to  lead  them  for  miles,  the  country 
was  so  exceedingly  rough.  Their  horses  went 
stumbling  along  as  if  foundered.  Subse- 
quently they  rode  around  the  island  almost 
every  day  for  two  months,  and  became  ac- 
quainted with  every  nook  and  corner.  They 
visited  old  "Daddy"  Stumps'  home  several 
times,  and  found  nothing  left  but  the  old 
cabin.  Inside  was  a  prospector's  outfit, 
with  several  weeks'  provisions  on  hand,  but 
no  sign  of  any  person. 

When  Mr.  Chambers  and  companion 
were  hunting  for  wild  horses,  the  horses 
generally  discovered  them  first,  as  they  ap- 
peared to  have  their  sentinels  out  in  time 
of  danger,  while  their  scent  was  as  keen  as 
a  bloodhound's,  which  gave  them  a  dou- 

129 


Thrilling  Experiences 

ble  advantage.  When  they  saw  one 
coming,  the  old  stallion,  the  leader 
of  the  band,  would  hide  his  fam- 
ily of  horses  behind  a  clump  of  cedars  or  in 
some  other  convenient  place.  He  would 
then  get  back  of  a  high  rock  and  stand  upon 
his  hind  legs,  resting  his  front  feet  upon  the 
rock,  peeping  over  so  that  he  showed  no 
part  of  his  body  but  the  top  of  his  head. 
Many  times  they  were  seen  doing  this,  as 
well  as  other  tricks  of  a  similar  nature.  They 
then  watched  the  movements  of  their 
pursuers,  and  when  these  got  disagreeably 
close,  the  horses  gave  the  alarm,  and  away 
the  animals  would  go,  single  file  over  the 
rough  mountain  trails,  at  the  rate  of  ten 
miles  an  hour.  , 

Another  trick  the  horses  often  played 
was  this :  When  they  saw  one  coming  to- 
wards them,  they  would  run  at  full  speed 
over  the  nearest  ridge,  and,  just  before  going 
out  of  sight,  would  turn  sharply  to  the  right 
or  left.  Then,  when  well  out  of  sight,  would 
wheel  around  and  run  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. Their  followers,  at  breakneck  speed, 
would  cut  across  the  country  to  head  them 
off,  but  when  they  reached  the  top  of  the 
ridge,  would  discover  that  the  horses  had 
gone  the  other  way,  and  out  of  sight.  They 
kept  a  person  guessing  all  the  time,  and  none 

130 


Antelope  Island 

could  tell  what  trick  they  would  spring 
next. 

Near  the  north  end  of  the  island,  to  the 
west  side,  is  a  little  mountain  that  projects 
out  into  the  lake.  By  following  the  lake 
shore,  it  was  about  four  miles  from  this 
mountain  to  the  corral.  After  the  horses  had 
been  driven  from  the  south  end  of  the  island, 
they  generally  took  refuge  behind  this  little 
mountain.  The  men  ran  them  through  the 
deep  sand  the  whole  distance  around  to  the 
corral,  and  in  this  way  captured  nearly  one 
hundred  head.  One  day  the  men  got  about 
ninety  wild  horses  behind  this  mountain, 
but,  unfortunately,  some  of  them  were  the 
same  that  had  been  corralled  before  but  had 
gotten  away.  After  they  had  been  run 
through  the  sand  to  the  extreme  north  end 
of  the  island,  rather  than  be  corralled,  they 
lunged  into  the  lake  and  swam  to  the  pro- 
montory, some  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  away. 

Among  the  first  horses  caught  were 
some  of  the  largest  and  best  on  the  island. 
During  the  month  of  May  there  came  a  se- 
vere snowstorm,  and  eighteen  of  the  most 
valuable  of  these  chilled  and  died.  The  bal- 
ance were  shipped  to  Layton  and  placed  in 
a  pasture,  where  they  remained  until  the 
men  had  completed  their  work.  Several  of 
the  island  horses  were  used  as  saddle  ani- 

131 


Thrilling  Experiences 

mals  to  take  the  place  of  the  clumsy  valley 
horse,  which  was  not  fit  for  riding  over  a 
rough  country. 

By  the  middle  of  June,  the  horses  on  the 
island  were  as  fat  and  sleek  as  seals,  and 
the  large  bands  were  broken  up  into  small 
ones.  The  men  worked  faithfully  for  ten 
days,  but  never  corralled  a  horse,  and  were 
almost  discouraged.  They  finally  adopted  a 
new  plan.  There  was  a  place  on  the  west 
side  where  two  trails  paralleled  each  other 
for  a  mile.  Apparently  there  was  no  way  of 
crossing  the  island  for  several  miles  south 
of  this  point.  Neither  was  there  any  way 
of  getting  around  these  trails,  or  going  from 
one  to  the  other.  At  the  north  end  of  the 
upper  one  was  a  natural  gate  formed  by  two 
large  rocks.  Here  the  men  spent  a  week  in 
building  a  stone  corral.  They  walled  up 
the  lower  trail  at  the  south  end  to  prevent 
the  horses  from  going  that  way.  While  this 
work  was  going  on,  they  often  saw  wild 
horses  looking  over  the  tops  of  high  rocks 
at  them.  When  their  work  was  completed, 
they  rode  back  to  camp  with  a  good  deal  of 
joy  and  satisfaction,  feeling  they  had  at  last 
outwitted  the  cunning  and  crafty  island 
horse.  Bright  and  early  the  next  morning 
they  rode  south,  on  the  east  side,  scaring 
up  wild  bands  as  they  went,  heading  them 

132 


Antelope  Island 

in  that  direction.  They  also  went  around 
the  south  end,  at  the  same  time  taking  pre- 
cautions to  prevent  the  horses  from  crossing 
back  to  the  east  side.  They  then  rode  north- 
ward, visiting  every  nook  and  corner,  and 
making  a  clean  sweep.  There  was 
a  good  deal  of  enthusiasm  among  them, 
and  excitement  was  at  a  high  pitch.  Their 
expectations  were  so  great  that  they  could 
hardly  contain  themselves.  The  majority 
were  afraid  that  the  corral  would  be 
too  small,  as  they  expected  to  capture 
almost  every  horse  on  the  island,  that  day. 
They  rode  slowly  along  until  they  reached 
within  a  few  hundred  feet  of  the  rock  en- 
closure, when,  with  a  rush  and  whoop,  they 
ran  their  horses  to  the  entrance.  But 
lo  and  behold,  all  they  discovered  was  a 
large  horse  track.  A  horse  had  deliber- 
ately walked  into  the  corral,  all  around  it, 
and  then  out  again,  and  was  gone !  It  seemed 
as  if  he  had  been  sent  there  to  inspect  the 
work  and  report  to  the  proper  horse  au- 
thorities, and  that  the  news  had  been  sent 
broadcast  over  the  island,  warning  every 
horse  of  the  cunning  trap  laid  for  them.  Suf- 
fice it  to  say,  every  horse  that  had  been 
driven  around  the  south  end  of  the  island 
that  day,  had  crossed  to  the  east  side,  over 
a  secret  pass  which  only  the  horses  knew. 


Thrilling  Experiences 

The  men  were  dumbfounded  and  disgust- 
ed with  themselves,  and  everything  connect- 
ed with  Antelope  Island.  They  rode  back 
to  camp  with  drooped  heads,  and  not  one  of 
them  uttered  a  word  or  batted  an  eye.  They 
got  their  outfit  together  and  the  next  day 
were  in  Layton  "necking"  island  horses  and 
getting  them  ready  for  the  final  drive  to 
Salt  Lake  City.  To  cap  the  climax,  sixteen 
head  of  their  best  horses  lifted  their  heads 
and  tails  skyward,  and  with  several  snorts, 
made  a  bee-line  for  the  Sand  Ridge.  They 
went  over  fences,  ditches,  chicken  coops  and 
everything  in  front  of  them.  Single  file, 
they  followed  the  railroad  track,  until  they 
came  to  the  railroad  bridge  over  Kay's 
Creek.  It  was  about  one  hundred  feet 
across,  with  sharp-edged  ties  at  both  ends. 
They  planted  their  feet  squarely  upon  these 
ties,  better  than  a  man  could  have  done,  and 
trotted  right  over.  Not  one  of  them  stum- 
bled or  made  a  misstep.  A  farmer's  horse 
in  the  field  close  by  became  excited  and  un- 
dertook to  follow  them,  but  the  first  step  he 
took  on  the  sharp-edged  ties,  he  went  head 
over  heels,  and  almost  broke  his  neck.  After 
the  horses  had  reached  the  Sand  Ridge 
northwest  of  Layton,  all  the  horsemen  in 
Davis  county  could  not  have  brought  them 
back. 

134 


Antelope  Island 

The  people  of  Kaysville  stocked  the  isl- 
and with  ten  thousand  head  of  sheep.  Feed 
became  scarce,  and  many  horses  died  of 
starvation.  Adam  Patterson,  in  1877,  pur- 
chased ten  thousand  acres  of  railroad  land 
on  the  island,  and  the  sheep  were  moved  off 
that  year.  The  Island  Improvement  Com- 
pany obtained  possession  of  the  island,  in 
1884,  and  there  were  about  one  hundred  wild 
horses  left.  They  had  become  a  nuisance, 
and  Mr.  John  H.  White  and  others  went 
there  with  their  long-range  guns  and  ex- 
terminated them.  Thus  ended  the  horses  of 
Antelope  Island,  once  the  pride  of  such  men 
as  Brigham  Young,  Heber  C.  Kimball  and 
hundreds  of  others  who  knew  the  value  of  a 
good  horse. 

The  old  Church  house,  built  by  Fielding 
Garr,  in  1849,  still  remains  in  good  condi- 
tion. Mr.  Scott  Gamble,  who  has  charge  of 
the  company's  interests,  lives  there  now. 
There  are  twenty-four  hundred  acres  of 
land  fenced  in,  and  one  thousand  acres  un- 
der cultivation.  Fifty  head  of  buffalo  and 
six  hundred  head  of  Hereford  cattle  now 
roam  over  the  island.  Mr.  John  H.  White, 
who  has  had  more  to  do  with  Antelope  Isl- 
and since  the  days  of  Brigham  Young  than 
any  other  man,  thinks  that  the  day  is  not  far 


135 


Thrilling  Experiences 

distant  when  the  west  side  of  the  island  will 
become  one  of  the  most  noted  pleasure  re- 
sorts in  the  world. 


136 


BEAR  LAKE  YARNS 

Climb  a  tree,  quick,   here  comes  the  Bear  Lake  mon- 
ster? 

With  Joseph  C.   Rich  astride,  acting  as  sponsor. 
Hide  in   the  branches,   well,   and   all  stop  breathing; 

Finding  no  boys  to  eat,  soon  they'll  be  leaving! 

Hush!  through  the  brush  they  rush,  all  decked  in  sage 

and  yellow, 

Just  see  the  horses  run,  just  hear  the  cattle  bel- 
low. 

Oh,  Joe,  you  cruel  foe — good  riddance  to  the  sponsor: 
Just  hear  them  blow,  there  they  go;  good-bye,  you 
horrid   monster! 

The  Bear  Lake  country,  in  1869,  came  to 
the  front,  but  more  settlers  were  needed. 
One  hundred  young  and  middle-aged  men 
were  called  from  Salt  Lake  to  go  there  and 
assist  in  its  upbuilding.  The  first  company 
left  in  July,  and  was  composed  of  eight 
young  men,  from  sixteen  to  twenty-three 
years  of  age,  each  of  whom  had  a  team  and 
wagon  loaded  with  supplies.  They  wore 
"Shelmedine"  hats,  that  had  been  wet  and 
stretched  to  a  peak  a  foot  long.  They  were 

137  J 


Thrilling  Experiences 

dubbed  along  the  route,  "The  Peaked  Hat 
Company." 

When  they  reached  the  toll  gate,  in  Og- 
den  canyon,  they  passed  the  word  along 
that  the  captain  of  the  company  was  in  the 
last  wagon,  and  that  he  would  pay  the  toll. 
When  the  captain  drove  up  he  told  the  gate- 
keeper that  it  was  a  mistake,  and  all  meant 
as  a  joke;  that  there  was  no  captain,  but  it 
did  not  work.  The  keeper  took  from  his  wa- 
gon bacon,  beans,  candles  and  such  other  ar- 
ticles as  were  needed  at  the  toll  gate ;  and 
with  a  wave  of  the  hand  ordered  him  to 
move  on. 

Three  days  later  they  reached  Round 
Valley,  at  the  south  end  of  Bear  Lake.  They 
found  the  surrounding  country  just  as  na- 
ture had  left  it,  and  a  more  beautiful  spot 
could  not  be  imagined.  Here  they  pitched 
their  tents,  since  they  seemed  to  want  noth- 
ing better.  Next  day  they  measured  the 
whole  valley  and  divided  it  among  them- 
selves. Several  days  were  spent  in  looking 
over  their  possessions,  which  comprised  the 
whole  country  for  miles  around,  including  a 
good  portion  of  the  lake.  They 
found  the  sage-hen,  prairie-chicken,  and 
wild  duck,  so  gentle  one  could  tap  them  on 
the  head  with  a  stick;  while  the  Bear  Lake 
trout  were  climbing  over  each  other  to  get  to 

138 


Bear  Lake  Yarns 

a  pl'ace  where  they  could  be  caught.  The 
wolverine,  gray  wolf,  and  mountain  lion 
were  so  neighborly  that  they  made  the  nights 
hideous  with  their  yells;  while  the  grizzly, 
cinnamon  and  black  bear  with  their 
young,  passed  by  their  camp  without  fear. 
Over  their  hilly  forests,  feeding  on  luxur- 
iant bunch  grass  and  wild  oats,  roamed  the 
antelope,  elk  and  deer  at  will.  There  was 
no  place  on  earth  where  the  birds  sang 
sweeter,  and  all  nature  seemed  to  smile. 

Their  evenings  were  pleasantly  spent 
with  the  banjo  around  the  cheerful  campfire, 
in  singing  songs,  dancing  jigs,  and  telling 
yarns.  They  generally  wound  up  with, 
"Angeline,  the  Baker,"  with  cow-bell  and 
tin-pan  accompaniment,  that  could  be  heard 
for  miles  around.  The  majority  of  them  had 
never  been  absent  from  home  before,  and 
were  like  colts  turned  loose  on  the  range. 
These  young  men,  like  the  beaver,  began  to 
build  their  winter  abode,  and  to  get  ready 
for  the  Bear  Lake  blizzards,  which  their 
mothers  had  talked  so  much  about.  They 
put  up  eighty  tons  of  bluegrass  hay ;  hauled 
logs  for  their  houses,  barns,  and  sheds.  They 
built  a  room  twenty-five  feet  long;  covered, 
chinked  and  plastered  it.  Fifty  cords  of 
wood  were  hauled  and  piled  around  the 
house,  until  nothing  could  be  seen  but  wood, 


Experiences 


except  a  square  hole  in  the  north  end,  called 
a  door.  Comfortable  barns,  sheds  and  cor- 
rals were  made,  and  the  place  looked  quite 
home-like.  Eight  high  and  narrow  bunks 
were  built  that  reached  two-thirds  around 
the  room,  and  their  winter  supplies  were 
stowed  away  under  them.  A  huge  Charter 
Oak  stove  was  placed  in  the  center  of  the 
room  that  devoured  wood  almost  as  fast 
as  one  could  tuck  it  in.  They  were  then 
ready  for  anything  that  came  along.  The 
blast  of  winter  soon  set  in,  which  proved  a 
howling  success,  and  the  whole  face  of  na- 
ture changed.  What  appeared  to  them  a 
happy  dream  a  few  weeks  before,  had 
changed  to  a  horrid  scowl.  The  eight  inhabi- 
tants of  the  unnamed  town,  soon  discovered 
that  they  had  been  snowed  in,  and  shut  out 
from  the  whole  world,  but  luckily  had  plen- 
ty to  eat,  drink  and  wear. 

They  also  discovered  that  they  had  no 
books,  except  such  as  had  been  committed 
to  memory.  In  order  to  kill  time,  they  be- 
gan to  spin  yarns,  and  within  a  month,  ev- 
erything they  knew  had  been  told  a  hun- 
dred times  over,  with  all  the  variations.  The 
moment  anyone  of  them  opened  his  mouth, 
everybody  else  knew  what  was  coming. 
Sometimes  they  went  to  bed  to  keep  warm 
and  save  candles,  but  the  story-telling  went 

140 


Bear  Lake  Yarns 

on  just  the  same.  When  their  stories  be- 
came unbearably  stale  the  listeners  snored 
as  a  gentle  hint  to  ease  up. 

Late  one  night  when  all  had  paused  long 
enough  to  collect  their  thoughts,  and  give 
their  brain  a'  better  chance,  a  full  grown 
skunk  came  walking  through  the  cathole  on 
his  tiptoes.  Everybody  smelt  a  mouse  and 
gently  drew  the  cover  over  their  heads,  and 
stopped  breathing.  The  beast  jumped 
onto  the  first  bed  he  came  to;  walked  the 
whole  length  of  the  eight  breathless 
missionaries,  then,  in  disgust,  it  jumped 
onto  the  hot  stove,  at  which  the  grand  ta- 
bleaux began.  At  first  everybody  saw 
stars ;  then  everything  turned  blue,  and 
the  missionaries'  hair  commenced  to  loosen 
at  the  roots.  Some  yelled  fire,  others  murder 
and  all  in  one  grand  chorus,  "Oh  'ell/'  The 
captain  about  this  time  grabbed  the  thing 
by  the  tail  and  landed  it  out  in  the  deep 
snow,  while  the  rest  of  the  missionaries 
were  tumbling  over  each  other  in  search  for 
fresh  air.  This  event  broke  the  monotony, 
opened  up  a  new  field  of  thought,  and 
proved  a  blessing  in  disguise. 

On  the  10th  of  December  the  boys  re- 
ceived invitations  to  attend  a  grand  ball  to 
be  given  at  the  ranch  of  James  Carles,  three 
miles  away.  Though  the  snow  was  deep 


Thrilling  Experiences 

and  the  thermometer  registering  some  fif- 
teen degrees  below  zero,  the  boys  were 
there  on  time.  In  less  than  an  hour  both 
fiddles  were  tuned,  and  the  dance  went  on, 
though  the  floor  was  rough.  The  thermom- 
eter continued  to  go  down,  but  the  dance 
was  kept  up.  When  morning  came,  it  was 
too  cold  to  stop  dancing,  so  they  danced 
all  day.  When  night  came  again,  it  was 
about  forty  degrees  below  zero.  There  was 
a  large  fireplace  in  one  end  of  the  ball- 
room, and  the  men  took  turns  chopping 
wood  to  keep  the  fire  burning,  All  bed- 
ding was  used  to  keep  the  fiddlers  and  chil- 
dren warm ;  the  rest  had  to  dance  or  freeze, 
While  one  fiddler  was  playing  the  other 
was  warming  his  fingers;  and  the  colder 
the  weather,  the  harder  the  crowd  danced. 
By  this  time  the  floor  was  smooth,  but  ev- 
erybody's shoes  were  about  worn  out,  and 
even  the  buttons  began  to  loosen  from 
their  clothing.  The  "Highland  flings,"  pig- 
eon wings,  and  other  fancy  steps  taken, 
would  have  made  a  French  dancing  master 
green  with  envy.  The  caller,  whose  voice 
was  like  a  fog-horn  when  he  began  to  call, 
had  by  this  time  dwindled  to  a  hoarse 
squeak;  and  toward  the  second  morning  the 
dance  simmered  down  to  a  grand  right  and 
left,  all  around  the  room.  Finally  their 

142 


Bear  Lake  Yarns 

prayers  were  heard;  the  south  wind  came, 
the  weather  moderated,  and  the  dance  end- 
ed. 

Then  the  missionaries  returned  home, 
after  enjoying  their  first  dance  in  the  land 
of  bears.  They  devoured  enough  food  to 
feed  a  small  army,  stopped  up  the  skunk- 
hole,  then  went  to  bed,  where  they  remained 
two  days  and  nights.  Before  they  had  fair- 
ly recovered  from  their  last  entertainment 
a  stranger  on  snow  shoes  brought  invita- 
tions for  them  to  attend  another  grand  ball 
to  be  given  at  Paris,  which  was  to  be  con- 
tinued all  through  the  holidays.  The  sur- 
prise almost  took  their  breath.  They  had  a 
week  to  get  ready,  so  decided  to  go. 

The  next  day  they  went  to  the  canyon 
to  get  sleigh  runners.  While  the  captain 
was  felling  a  tree  a  large  hedge-hog  dropped 
from  the  top  of  the  tree,  and  came  near 
falling  on  the  captain's  back.  None  of  the 
boys  were  carpenters,  nor  sons  of  carpen- 
ters, though  four  days  were  spent  in  mak- 
ing eight  sleighs,  the  balance  of  the  time  be- 
ing occupied  in  sewing  on  buttons,  mending 
clothing  and  getting  ready  to  dance  for  a 
whole  week.  Each  missionary  took  two 
pair  of  shoes  along  in  case  of  another  cold 
snap.  The  boys  had  plenty  of  sleigh-bells, 
and  the  day  before  Christmas  they  started 

143 


Thrilling  Experiences 

to  Paris.  The  snow  was  deep,  and  no  track 
broken.  All  went  well  with  them  until  they 
started  to  descend  a  steep  hill.  A  bolt  in 
the  captain's  double-trees  commenced  to 
work  out.  As  he  reached  forward  to  push 
it  back,  his  sleigh  ended  over  onto  his  team, 
and  almost  squeezed  the  life  out  of  him. 
The  sleigh  was  lifted  back,  and  the  com- 
pany drove  on.  The  boys  soon  reached  the 
side-hill  country,  and  then  their  trouble  be- 
gan in  earnest.  The  snow  was  badly  drift- 
ed, and  they  soon  discovered  that  they  had 
made  their  sleighs  too  narrow,  as  well  as  too 
short.  For  the  next  eight  miles  their  sleighs 
were  either  ending  up,  or  tipping  over,  and 
the  best  part  of  the  day  was  spent  in  digging 
each  other  out  of  the  deep  snow,  and  lifting 
their  soggy  sleighs  off  from  each  other.  The 
road  from  Fish  Haven  to  Paris  was  good, 
and  the  latter  place  was  reached  about  5 
p.  m. 

The  eight  missionaries  caused  a  sensa- 
tion as  they  drove  through  town.  Joe  Rich, 
Nute  Austin,  Jack  Sutton  and  others,  made 
fun  for  the  crowd  as  the  missionaries  passed 
by  in  a  funeral-like  procession.  After  the 
peaked  hat  company  had  thawed  out,  eaten 
supper,  and  had  a  good  night's  rest,  they 
were  ready  for  anything.  The  city  was 
filled  with  strangers  from  far  and  near,  who 

144 


Bear  Lake  Yarns 

looked  as  if  they  had  come  to  have  a  good 
time.  The  dance  was  to  take  place  in  Da- 
vid P.  Kimball's  large  and  commodious 
barn.  The  building  was  beautifully  decor- 
ated with  red,  white  and  blue  blankets. 
There  was  plenty  of  room  for  twelve  sets  to 
dance,  and  the  music  was  first-class.  The 
citizens  of  Paris  spared  neither  time  nor 
money  to  make  the  ball  a  grand  success.  At 
night  as  many  as  twenty-five  candles  were 
burning  at  the  same  time.  The  floor  was 
a  little  rough,  but  the  Round  Valley  boys 
were  accustomed  to  that.  When  the  dance 
began,  everybody  had  the  spirit  of  it.  The 
eight  missionaries  were  introduced  to  the 
great  humorist  and  author  of  the  "Bear 
Lake  Monster"  yarn,  Joseph  Colton  Rich, 
who,  in  return,  introduced  them  to  all  of  his 
sisters.  He  proved  to  be  very  much  of  a 
gentleman,  and  was  well  posted  on  every- 
thing. He  could  answer  any  question  one 
could  ask  him,  and  many  things  he  an- 
swered without  being  asked.  He  confiden- 
tially told  how  the  belles  of  Paris  had  sent  a 
man  on  snow-shoes  to  Logan  after  the  lat- 
est styles  of  dresses.  How  the  man  was 
caught  in  a  blizzard  on  his  return  trip,  and 
had  part  of  the  pattern  blown  away.  He 
said  that  every  lady  who  belonged  to  the 
"four  hundred"  of  Paris  had  their  dresses 

145 


Thrilling  Experiences 

cut  from  the  part  that  was  left  and  did  not 
know  the  difference.  This,  he  said,  was  to 
be  kept  a  secret  until  after  the  holidays, 
so  as  not  to  interfere  with  their  enjoyment. 

The  spirit  of  dance  seemed  to  be  in  the 
very  air,  and  one  could  not  meet  a  person 
on  the  street  who  was  not  dancing  some 
kind  of  a  jig.  Even  the  ladies  at  home 
were  dancing  around  the  stove  while  cook- 
ing, and  one  could  not  eat  a  meal  of  vic- 
tuals without  hearing  all  kinds  of  dance  ex- 
pressions, such  as,  "Please  swing  the  fried 
fish  around  to  this  corner,"  or  "Please  cross 
the  hot-cakes  to  the  couple  on  the  left/'  and 
"Promenade  the  mince-pie  to  this  right- 
hand  lady,"  and  many  other  expressions  of  a 
similar  nature.  Sye  Eardley  was  leader  ot 
the  brass  band  and  had  taught  the  men  who 
composed  the  band  to  play  several  tunes, 
such  as  "Beautiful  Moonlight,"  "Beautiful 
Dreamer,"  "Star  of  the  Evening,"  and  other 
night-pieces  which  the  band  played  in  full 
blast  during  the  day,  while  the  dance  was 
kept  up  at  night. 

After  the  holidays  were  over  the  "Peak- 
ed Hat  Company"  returned  home,  well 
pleased  with  the  royal  reception  they  had 
received.  By  the  time  winter  had  broken 
up  the  missionaries  had  eaten  everything  in 
sight,  except  their  mules  and  the  cat.  Like 

141 


Bear  Lake  Yarns 

the  Laplanders,  they  were  living  on  fish  and 
wild  game.  When  out  of  fish,  they  drove 
down  to  "Spring  Creek,"  two  miles  away, 
where  hundreds  of  beautiful  trout  came 
from  Bear  Lake  every  night  to  the  head 
of  the  spring.  Here  the  boys  drove  stakes 
about  an  inch  apart,  across  the  shallowest 
part  of  the  creek  in.  the  form  of  a  letter  V, 
with  the  small  end  down  stream.  At  the 
point  of  the  V,  a  long  cone-shaped  Indian 
willow  trap  was  fastened.  After  the  mis- 
sionaries had  placed  a  sign,  "No  Danger," 
above  the  mouth  of  the  trap,  they  went  to 
the  head  of  Spring  Creek ;  waded  down 
stream,  eight  abreast,  pounding  tin  cans, 
ringing  cow-bells,  and  yelling  at  the  top  of 
their  voices,  till  the  musical  strategy  of  the 
Peaked  Hat  Company,  herded  from  one  to 
two  hundred  pounds  of  cunning  captives 
into  their  doleful  doom.  Thus  ends  the  first 
chapter. 

When  spring  came  and  the  roads  were 
passable,  the  eight  Bear  Lake  missionaries 
hitched  up  their  teams  and  started  for  Salt 
Lake  City,  to  renew  their  supplies.  When 
they  reached  the  toll  gate  in  Ogden  Canyon 
the  keeper  knew  them  not.  Their  peaked 
hats  had  flattened  and  the  carelines  on  their 
blistered  faces  gave  them  the  appearance  of 
experienced  young  men,  insteacTof  a  crowd 

147 


Thrilling  Experiences 

of  greenhorns.  The  boys  paid  their  toll  in 
trout,  wolf  pelts,  and  such  other  commodi- 
ties as  were  at  their  disposal,  then  drove  on 
to  Salt  Lake  City.  Here  they  spent  several 
weeks  spinning  Bear  Lake  yarns  to  their  un- 
suspecting mothers,  relatives  and  friends. 

While  in  Salt  Lake  City  the  missionaries 
were  introduced  to  Messrs.  Gilberson  and 
Berry,  two  gentlemen  who  had  just  pur- 
chased the  Gold  Hill  mine  at  Deep  Creek, 
and  who  were  about  to  start  things  booming 
in  that  section  of  country.  These  gen- 
tlemen offered  the  boys  fifteen  dollars  a  head 
to  haul  men  to  that  camp,  besides  agreeing 
to  give  the  missionaries  steady  employment 
for  a  year.  The  temptation  was  so  great  that 
five  of  the  boys  accepted  the  offer,  while  the 
remaining  three  returned  to  their  northern 
possessions. 

The  five  contractors  loaded  their  wagons 
with  miners,  and  started  for  Deep  Creek. 
Eight  days  later  they  reached  their  destina- 
tion and  delivered  their  living  cargo,  at  the 
little  mining  camp  called  Clifton,  two  hun- 
dred miles  southwest  of  Salt  Lake  City.  Al- 
though the  missionaries  had  never  burned  a 
pound  of  charcoal  in  their  lives,  they  took  a 
contract  to  burn  two  thousand  bushels  and 
deliver  the  same  at  the  Clifton  smelter  with- 
in specified  time. 

148 


Bear  Lake  Yarns 

Several  days  were  spent  in  looking  for  a 
suitable  place.  About  seven  miles  east  of 
Deep  Creek,  and  five  miles  south  of  Clifton, 
in  the  tops  of  the  low  mountains,  they 
found  an  ideal  spot.  It  was  a  perfect  little 
paradise,  surrounded  by  groves  of  pinion 
pine;  meadows  of  rich  bunch  grass,  with 
plenty  of  wild  game  all  around,  and  none  to 
molest  or  make  afraid.  Here  they  built  a 
log  cabin  and  commenced  to  cut  timber.  A 
more  contented  and  happy  lot  of  coal  burn- 
ers never  lived. 

One  afternoon  they  heard  a  strange  noise 
in  the  timber  below,  and  ran  to  see  what 
caused  it.  They  were  not  long  in  discover- 
ing that  the  whole  country  for  miles  around 
was  literally  alive  with  Indians  coming  over 
the  hills  towards  their  camp  in  every  direc- 
tion. Before  they  wrere  aware,  they  were 
completely  surrounded.  The  boys  ran  to 
their  cabin  with  the  expectation  of  losing 
their  scalps,  to  pay  the  penalty  for  running 
away  from  their  Bear  Lake  mission. 

The  big  fat  bucks,  decked  out  in  war 
paint,  gathered  around  and  commenced  to 
scrutinize  the  dirty-faced  coal  burners,  who 
had  already  destroyed  several  acres  of  pinion 
pine,  which  the  red  men  were  depending 
upon  for  pine  nuts.  Every  hair  in  the  Bear 
Lakers'  heads  seemed  to  be  alive  and  stand- 

149 


Thrilling  Experiences 

ing  on  end.  Everything  around  them  looked 
pretty  black,  while  their  prayers  went  up  in 
earnest.  This  was  a  different  experience 
from  any  they  had  passed  through,  and  they 
covenanted  within  themselves  that  if  they 
got  out  of  this  trouble  alive,  they  would 
never  run  away  from  another  mission. 

The  chiefs  by  this  time  had  gathered 
around  the  coal  burners,  who  had  about 
given  up  all  hopes  of  escape.  The  boys  won- 
dered whether  it  would  be  a  scalping  bee  or  a 
grand  sizzle  at  the  stake,  and  not  one  of 
them  left  to  tell  how  it  was  done.  While 
many  thoughts  of  this  kind  were  passing 
through  their  minds,  an  old  chief  by  the  name 
of  Tabby  came  along,  and  was  greatly  as- 
tonished when  he  discovered  who  they  were. 
In  turn  he  embraced  each  of  them,  and  then 
explained  to  his  companion  chiefs  that  three 
of  these  boys  were  pappooses  of  peup  Cap- 
tain Kimball,  and  that  he  would  stand  good 
for  them.  By  this  time  the  frightened  coal 
burners  had  caught  their  breath,  and  some- 
what recovered  from  their  fearful  shock. 
They  gulped  down  a  cup  of  water  and  then 
pinched  themselves  to  see  if  they  were  still 
alive. 

Several  years  previous  to  this  time,  when 
the  Gosh-Utes  were  on  the  warpath,  Heber 
C.  Kimball  employed  Tabby  and  family  to 

150 


Bear  Lake  Yarns 

guard  his  stock  on  Kimball  Island,  fourteen 
miles  north  of  Grantsville.  At  that  time 
Chief  Tabby  received  such  royal  treatment 
from  Mr.  Kimball  that  he  remained  a  faith- 
ful friend  to  him  and  family  as  long  as  he 
(Tabby)  lived.  There  were  in  all  about  one 
thousand  Indians.  They  had  camped  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  below  the  coal  burners' 
cabin.  The  Indians  were  much  surprised  to 
find  five  boys  in  a  lonely  place  of  this  kind, 
and  so  far  from  civilization.  The  coal  burn- 
ers invited  the  leading  chiefs  into  their  cabin, 
where  several  hours  were  pleasantly  spent  in 
smoking  the  pipe  of  peace,  that  never  before 
had  tasted  so  delicious.  The  boys  wined  and 
dined  the  chiefs  on  their  best.  Chief  Tabby 
acted  as  interpreter  and  toastmaster.  All 
misunderstandings  were  straightened  out, 
and  the  contractors  were  given  full  liberty  to 
chop  timber  or  do  anything  else  they  wanted 
to. 

The  next  day  their  savage  friends  moved 
to  the  Deep  Creek  Valley  several  miles  be- 
low. Here  they  remained  until  their  annual 
pow-wow  had  ended.  Large  delegations, 
representing  the  different  tribes  for  hundreds 
of  miles  around,  gathered  at  this  place,  num- 
bering not  less  than  three  thousand.  At 
such  gatherings  all  important  matters  per- 
taining to  their  affairs  were  discussed,  and  a 

151 


Thrilling  Experiences 

better  understanding  had  in  relation  to 
themselves  as  well  as  to  their  pale-faced 
neighbors. 

After  the  red-skins  had  settled  down 
to  business,  they  sent  a  delegation,  headed 
by  Chief  Tabby's  son  Modawalk,  to  invite 
the  coal  burners  to  attend  a  grand  ball  and 
banquet,  to  be  given  at  their  camp  the  next 
evening,  commencing  at  sunset.  The  delega- 
tion was  received  with  due  respect.  The 
invitation  was  accepted  with  all  the  bowing 
and  scraping  imaginable.  The  missionaries 
were  there  at  sunset  and  found  the  festivi- 
ties running  in  full  blast.  They  consisted 
of  horse-racing,  gambling,  singing,  dancing, 
feasting,  and  having  a  genuine  good  time. 
All  were  dressed  in  their  best,  and  the  boom- 
ing of  drums  could  be  heard  in  every  direc- 
tion. At  the  most  central  point  was  the 
headquarters  of  the  leading  chiefs  and  their 
families.  The  coal  burners  were  escorted  to 
this  place,  where  they  were  made  welcome. 
Chief  Tabby  and  his  son  Modawalk  intro- 
duced them  to  the  nobility  that  were 
grouped  in  family  circles.  The  Bear  Lakers 
were  then  invited  to  take  partners  for  the 
opening  dance.  The  sage-brush  had  been 
cleared  from  a  half  acre  of  ground ;  the  wolf 
holes  filled  up ;  ant  beds  and  rough  places 
smoothed  down.  About  fifty  gents  took 

152 


Bear  Lake  Yams 

partners  and  formed  a  circle,  all  taking  hold 
of  hands.  The  orchestra,  composed  of  prom- 
inent "professors"  of  music,  took  their  places 
in  the  center.  When  all  was  ready,  the  big 
medicine  man,  with  several  waves  of  his  staff 
and  a  war  whoop,  gave  the  signal  to  start 
the  dance.  When  the  orchestra  struck  up 
the  tune,  it  sent  a  special  thrill  through  the 
coal  burners,  and  at  the  same  time  all  the 
dancers  jumped  about  four  inches  high  and 
a  little  to  the  right,  as  if  a  pin  had  been 
stuck  into  each  of  them.  This  was  kept  up 
at  the  tap  of  the  drum  like  clock-work  for 
about  thirty  minutes,  all  of  them  singing  at 
the  top  of  their  voices.  At  times  some  of  the 
young  red-bloods  became  so>  enthusiastic 
that  they  jumped  as  high  as  they  could,  and 
let  out  yells  that  made  the  Bear  Lakers  feel 
like  full-fledged  savages.  When  the  medi- 
cine man  raised  his  staff  to  stop  the  dance, 
everybody  was  sweating  like  smelters.  The 
missionaries  were  warmly  dressed,  wore 
heavy  shoes,  jumped  higher  than  the  rest, 
and  felt  that  they  were  representing  the  best 
blood  of  America. 

The  first  dance  told  on  the  boys,  though 
the  festivities  had  hardly  begun.  The  ball 
room  floor  was  dusty  and  no  signs  of  rain. 
While  other  gents  took  partners  and  the 
dance  continued,  those  who  had  just  left  the 

153  K 


Thrilling  Experiences 

floor  repaired  to  the  banqueting  table,  where 
an  hour  was  spent  in  feasting  upon  the  good 
things  that  had  been  brought  from  far  and 
near.  No*  bill  of  fare  was  furnished.  Every- 
body had  to  use  their  eyes,  nose  and 
mouth  to  find  out,  if  possible,  just  what  they 
were  eating.  The  contents  of  the  first  dish 
passed  around  smelled  like  polliwog  soup, 
but  no  questions  were  asked.  Gunny  sacks 
of  jerked  bread,  that  looked  like  it  had  been 
saved  for  years  for  this  particular  occasion, 
were  dumped  out  on  the  grass  before  them. 
Also  plenty  of  dried  meat  of  many  varieties ; 
hard-boiled  eggs  of  every  description,  and 
other  choice  eatables  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion. One  of  the  coal  burners  shed  a  tear 
when  he  discovered  a  chunk  of  bread  that 
his  mother  had  given  to  an  old  squaw  a  year 
or  two  before ;  but  soon  cheered  up  when  the 
peal  of  laughter  rang  out  all  around  him. 
After  the  first  meal,  the  Bear  Lakers  vis- 
ited Chief  Tabby's  headquarters  to  get  per- 
mission to  go  into  the  next  dance  bare- 
footed and  in  their  shirt  sleeves.  Tabby 
consulted  other  prominent  officials,  and  soon 
brought  word  that  the  coal  burners  could 
take  off  everything  they  had  on  except  their 
trousers.  The  dance  ran  every  night  for  a 
week  to  its  full  capacity,  with  many  changes 
ranging  from  the  sun,  moon  and  star  dances 

154 


Bear  Lake  Yams 

to  the  celebrated  ghost  dance.  The  longer 
the  crowd  danced  the  higher  they  jumped, 
and  the  louder  they  yelled. 

When  the  coal  burners  returned  to  their 
cabin,  it  would  have  puzzled  an  expert 
medicine  man  to  have  told  the  difference  be- 
tween them  and  their  savage  companions,  as 
all  looked  and  acted  alike.  For  several  days 
after  the  pow-wow,  every  unusual  sound 
heard,  the  boys  jumped  about  four  inches 
high  and  a  little  to  the  right. 

After  leaving  the  red-skins'  camp,  the 
five  contractors  discovered  many  small  in- 
sects with  gray  backs  that  had  taken  quite  a 
liking  to  them.  It  took  considerable  time 
and  plenty  of  hot  water  to  loosen  them  from 
their  clothing. 

Modawalk  became  a  frequent  visitor  to 
their  camp.  On  one  occasion  he  shouldered 
one  of  their  rifles,  went  in  the  hills  near  by, 
and  killed  a  big  fat  deer  for  them. 

The  coal  burners  spent  six  months  burn- 
ing coal  and  making  a  road  to  the  smelter. 
Before  they  had  delivered  a  pound  of  coal, 
the  Gilberson  Berry  Company  went  into 
bankruptcy,  and  the  boys  never  received  a 
cent  for  their  labors. 

The  next  day  after  the  red-skin  confer- 
ence had  adjourned,  Chief  Tabby  called  on 
the  coal  burners  and  invited  them  to  attend 

155 


Thtillmg  Experiences 

their  next  annual  gathering  at  Indian  Valley, 
near  th-e  south  end  of  Bear  Lake.  The  mis- 
sionaries accepted  the  invitation,  it  being 
but  three  miles  from  their  northern  home. 
After  the  Bear  Lakers  returned  to  Salt  Lake 
they  realized  that  they  had  worked  six 
months  in  vain,  had  two  pair  of  valuable  ani- 
mals stolen,  came  nearly  having  the  wits 
scared  out  of  them,  and  danced  until  they 
could  see  stars ;  while  on  the  other  hand  the 
three  missionaries  that  stayed  with  their 
Bear  Lake  mission  were  abundantly  blessed. 
The  coal  burners  were  compelled  to  sell  a 
portion  of  their  Salt  Lake  real  estate  in 
order  to  get  means  to  enable  them  to  reach 
their  Bear  Lake  home. 

During  the  latter  part  of  June,  1871,  sev- 
eral thousand  Indians  came  pouring  into 
the  Bear  Lake  country  from  every  direction. 
Agreeable  to  appointment,  they  met  at  In- 
dian Valley,  where  they  remained  about  two 
weeks.  On  the  29th  of  June  President 
Brigham  Young  and  company  met  with 
them.  They  came  from  Salt  Lake  to  Ev- 
anston  over  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  and 
traveled  the  balance  of  the  way  in  light  ve- 
hicles, holding  meetings  at  the  various  set- 
tlements along  the  route.  A  meeting  was 
held  in  the  evening  at  Lake  Town,  Presi- 
dent Brigham  Young  and  Geo.  A.  Smith 

156 


Bear  Lake  Yarns 

being  the  speakers.  The  next  day  they  held 
a  meeting  at  Meadowville,  where  Wilford 
Woodruff,  Joseph  F.  Smith  and  others 
spoke.  Many  prominent  Indians  were  pres- 
sent  on  both  occasions  and  enjoyed 
their  visit  with  the  authorities  very  much. 
July  1st  the  presidential  party  drove  to 
Paris,  where  they  remained  a  couple  of  days 
and  then  returned  home  via  Cache  Valley. 


157 


